Comments on: zfs in linux, maybe! (read only) http://www.parolski.com/2008/07/23/zfs-in-linux-maybe-read-only/ Faith, Solaris, and Chicken Korma, by Anton Parol Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:46:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: James Legg http://www.parolski.com/2008/07/23/zfs-in-linux-maybe-read-only/#comment-236 James Legg Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:44:33 +0000 http://www.parolski.com/?p=60#comment-236 ZFS it is in Mac OS X 10.5 and you can get the read write bits ok from macosxforge. The kicker for linux is the GPL not being compatible with any other license, but the Linux kernel guys have always had the same issue with using other open source code that is not GPL compatible (that is most licenses). I guess the question is - if Sun made ZFS GPLv2 would that remove Solaris's advantage. I think the answer is no (because of dtrace, SMF and the high standards the OS is written and maintained to for a start), but from a Linux users point of view and experience it is harder to see that side of things, dtrace is not a simple concept and SMF is not the most thrilling of features (until it saves your arse). I like to think that cross licensing the ZFS code under a GPLv2 license and getting it into Linux would only increase the interest in OpenSolaris - but maybe I'm being naive abut that! I guess the fun would be if ZFS got put under GPLv3! ZFS it is in Mac OS X 10.5 and you can get the read write bits ok from macosxforge. The kicker for linux is the GPL not being compatible with any other license, but the Linux kernel guys have always had the same issue with using other open source code that is not GPL compatible (that is most licenses).

I guess the question is - if Sun made ZFS GPLv2 would that remove Solaris’s advantage. I think the answer is no (because of dtrace, SMF and the high standards the OS is written and maintained to for a start), but from a Linux users point of view and experience it is harder to see that side of things, dtrace is not a simple concept and SMF is not the most thrilling of features (until it saves your arse).

I like to think that cross licensing the ZFS code under a GPLv2 license and getting it into Linux would only increase the interest in OpenSolaris - but maybe I’m being naive abut that! I guess the fun would be if ZFS got put under GPLv3!

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