Re:GNU/Hurd strikes back: How to use the legendary OS in a (...
by serf on Monday August 07, 2023 @06:25PM
(#37041795)
I think it's a great project to tackle.
Here are my criticisms :
1) LoC doesn't indicate complexity. When you're looking at a code base and you see that it's 65000 lines, that by no means should be an indicator of whether or not a re-write is easily feasible -- especially with a filesystem.
2) Language shouldn't be a motivator for a re-write without considering why the language offers advantages, the end users don't care about which file extension is littered across the source tree.
Both of those tendencies (one to re-write everything in your favorite language, and two to come across with an idea that you understand how complex a mechanism is simply from LoC) indicate to me, anecdotally of course, a certain lack of experience; and I have a hard time imagining someone with those concerns tackling a re-write of a filesystem that gains 'the audience' any benefits.
If it's just for the sake of personal toys and fooling around with your own machine I feel as if those motivations are fine, but I have concerns if 'a new filesystem in Rust' comes from what I view as shaky initial motivations.
Here are my criticisms :
1) LoC doesn't indicate complexity. When you're looking at a code base and you see that it's 65000 lines, that by no means should be an indicator of whether or not a re-write is easily feasible -- especially with a filesystem.
2) Language shouldn't be a motivator for a re-write without considering why the language offers advantages, the end users don't care about which file extension is littered across the source tree.
Both of those tendencies (one to re-write everything in your favorite language, and two to come across with an idea that you understand how complex a mechanism is simply from LoC) indicate to me, anecdotally of course, a certain lack of experience; and I have a hard time imagining someone with those concerns tackling a re-write of a filesystem that gains 'the audience' any benefits.
If it's just for the sake of personal toys and fooling around with your own machine I feel as if those motivations are fine, but I have concerns if 'a new filesystem in Rust' comes from what I view as shaky initial motivations.