Re: [PATCH] Add error handling to minix filesystem similar to ext4

[Shuah Khan]

On 10/30/25 09:12, Jeff Layton wrote:
> On Thu, 2025-10-30 at 15:09 +0100, Jori Koolstra wrote:
> > > I don't see a licensing issue. It's BSD licensed. Also, this is a
> > > userland code, so we wouldn't need to worry about that too much.
> >
> > Oh, my bad. I thought Minix (the OS) had some licensing incompatibilities
> > with Linux, and this repo takes code from Minix. But that may be long in
> > the past.
>
> Minix is BSD licensed too. That's not completely incompatible with the
> GPL, but IANAL.
>
> > > You're quite right though that userland replacements will need to meet
> > > some criteria before we can rip out the in-kernel versions. This might
> > > be a good discussion topic for next year's LSF/MM!
> >
> > Would an in-tree but out of kernel implementation be an idea? Like how
> > kselftest is integrated in the code, even though most of that also takes
> > place in userland. That would guarantee a level of support, at least for
> > the time being. I could take the code, verify it, and write some tests
> > for in selftest.
>
> That's not a bad idea. We already have some userland code in the kernel
> tree (the tools/ directory comes to mind). A directory with replacement
> FUSE drivers for in-kernel filesystems could be a reasonable thing to
> add. Anything we keep in-tree will need to be GPL-compatible though.

Jori, if you want to continue working on userland slotions and working
to initiate deprecating, working - please do.> 
> > And there is still the issue of what we do for the syzbot bugs until a
> > more permanent solution is achieved.
>
> Yeah, that's a different issue.  Most likely we'll need to fix those in
> the near term. Replacing minix.ko with a FUSE fs will take time
> (years), even once we have a new driver in hand.
Does this mean Jori can work on fixing these while replacing minix.ko
with fuse progresses?

> We'll need to mark the old driver deprecated and then wait a few
> releases before we can rip it out.
Jori could work on patches for deprecating perhaps?

> > Anyway, this probably goes over my head as a clueless beginner. Just
> > trying to see where I can help. Thanks a lot Jeff for you answers, I
> > appreciate it.
>
> You're welcome. We all start out as beginners!

+1

thanks,
-- Shuah