The Ongoing BcacheFS Filesystem Stability Controversy
1 min read
Summary
BcacheFS, a Linux-based copy-on-write (COW) filesystem, designed by developer Kent Overstreet, is reportedly unstable and has been the subject of extensive patches, with its creator urging users to update to the latest Linux kernel to safeguard against bugs.
As we have previously reported, its instability has led to its creator, Linus Torvalds, pushing back against it, and expressing regret for merging BcacheFS into the mainline Linux kernel.
Now, it seems that the filesystem is best considered at best an experimental Alpha-level filesystem implementation, and should not be used on important data or systems.
Instead, reliable COW filesystems in Linux are ZFS or btrfs, with the latter also being susceptible to bugs that have impacted its reputation.
The key lesson for users is that when it comes to filesystems, they should always make multiple backups, test them regularly, and avoid shiny new things on production systems.
