In article <CORYWEST.92Jul31121404@lost.rice.edu> corywest@rice.edu (Cory West) writes:
quoted text
>
>       Will the utils on the next release of the root disk be
>compiled with the correct readdr() so that they will be able to
>deal with the new ext file system?

The current (0.96) rootdisk (and mcc-interim) should already be compiled
with gcc-2.2.2, using the readdir() syscall.  Most binaries that have
been made available in the last month should be good: looking at the
date-information at the ftp-sites is generally a a good indication
(although not 100% sure). 

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>                                 I was trying to test out the
>ext file system, but I don't have the resources to recompile
>everything.  When might we see this? When might the extfs move from
>beta to production?

The problem with the extended fs is now mostly a performance thing: the
fs might still be changed to use bigger block-sizes for faster
operation.  Remy Card has shown interest, and I don't know if the final
ext-fs will be compatible with the current one.  Having a 4kB blocksize
should speed up operations considerably, but while the kernel doesn't
yet completely support different sized buffers I can't promise anything
(0.97 has much code for it, but still some way to go). 

The buffer-code changes in 0.97 might eventually also mean the DOS
interface gets faster: a 512-byte block-size is more natural for some
DOS operations, so it might be possible that you'll eventually see a
system that uses 512-byte buffers for msdos floppies, 1024-byte buffers
for the minix fs and bigger buffers for the extended fs.

The block drivers have to be made aware of the dynamic buffer-sizes etc,
and I'll have to write some code to stop the mixing of differently sized
buffers on the same device (which leads to madness).  Right now (ie in
version 0.97) only the low-level buffer-code knows about the dynamic
sizes. 

                Linus