{"thread":{"id":"43086","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","startedAt":"2006-12-13T15:58:41Z","lastAt":"2006-12-19T23:55:03Z","messageCount":15,"participants":["Juergen Ruehle","Martin Langhoff","Johannes Schindelin","Dan Nicholson","Stefano Spinucci","Florian v. Savigny","David Lang"],"isPatch":false,"patchVersion":null,"patchTotal":null},"messages":[{"id":"296511","messageId":"0MKwpI-1GuWVF2znk-0006fC@mrelayeu.kundenserver.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":null,"subject":"Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Florian v. Savigny","fromEmail":"lorian@fsavigny.de","sentAt":"2006-12-13T15:58:41Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-13T15:58:41Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"lorian@fsavigny.de","avatar":null},"body":"\n\nHi there,\n\nI would like to use git to develop a somewhat larger Perl project\nwhich I would need to test and develop under both Linux and Windows,\ni.e. I would need a repository on a FAT32 partition (to my knowledge,\nstill the only filesystem that can be fully accessed from both OSes -\ncorrect me if I'm wrong) which could be accessed by two compatible git\nexecutables, such that I could switch back and forth.\n\nBefore describing how I (unsuccessfully, which is perhaps not\nsurprising, as I'm C-illiterate) hacked the Makefile to compile two\ngit siblings, I would like to generally ask whether this is possible\nat all (or should be possible in theory, in which case I'm willing to\ntest extensively), whether with Cygwin or not. The preliminary\nimpression was that the Linux version would not accept a repository on\nFAT32 (it did work with more Unixish filesystems). - I do not need the\nnetworking capabilities, BTW (standalone development), if that is an\nissue in any way.\n\nThanks for any hint!\n\nFlorian\n\n-- \n                                               Florian von Savigny\n__________________________________________________________________\nlorian@fsavigny.de\n"},{"id":"294408","messageId":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612131707100.3635@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"0MKwpI-1GuWVF2znk-0006fC@mrelayeu.kundenserver.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Johannes Schindelin","fromEmail":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","sentAt":"2006-12-13T16:39:42Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-13T16:39:42Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/127790?v=4"},"body":"Hi,\n\nOn Wed, 13 Dec 2006, Florian v. Savigny wrote:\n\n> I would like to use git to develop a somewhat larger Perl project\n> which I would need to test and develop under both Linux and Windows,\n> i.e. I would need a repository on a FAT32 partition (to my knowledge,\n> still the only filesystem that can be fully accessed from both OSes -\n> correct me if I'm wrong) which could be accessed by two compatible git\n> executables, such that I could switch back and forth.\n\nI would not use the _same_ repository from both Windows and Linux, but \nrather fetch/push from/to the Windows partition.\n\nI am using Cygwin to compile git, and I have a USB Stick with FAT32 on \nwhich I push regularly. Important: since Linux is more intelligent about \npermissions, I had to initialize the repos with Windows.\n\nTo get started compiling, you might want to use the autoconf script.\n\nCiao,\nDscho\n"},{"id":"296519","messageId":"46a038f90612132155rc987a9cs6a4fa33dd4c882c6@mail.gmail.com","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"0MKwpI-1GuWVF2znk-0006fC@mrelayeu.kundenserver.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Martin Langhoff","fromEmail":"martin.langhoff@gmail.com","sentAt":"2006-12-14T05:55:57Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-14T05:55:57Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"martin.langhoff@gmail.com","avatar":"https://gravatar.com/avatar/1e3f311b6c4c15836501901ca58f8c0b0667246488084ba524d8bc9867e22fd9?d=mp&s=160"},"body":"Florian,\n\na bit of a long shot, but you might be able to access it via Samba,\nand just use git on linux. I have to confess to having setup a few git\ncheckouts for Win32 users this way... in some cases with cygwin+x11\nand a shortcut that will do something like\n\n    ssh linuxhost gitk --all\n\nor\n\n    ssh linuxhost qgit\n\nbut then again, I'm rumoured to be insane...\n\ncheers,\n\n\n"},{"id":"295716","messageId":"0ML25U-1GvWC81sjR-0001UB@mrelayeu.kundenserver.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"46a038f90612132155rc987a9cs6a4fa33dd4c882c6@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Florian v. Savigny","fromEmail":"lorian@fsavigny.de","sentAt":"2006-12-16T09:51:04Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-16T09:51:04Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"lorian@fsavigny.de","avatar":null},"body":"\n\nThank you Martin and Johannes -\n\nbefore proceeding by following either of your two suggestions, I\nwould like to make sure that there is no other way, so I would like to\nask:\n\n1. I know, there is absolutely nothing in either of your answers that\n   says that the route I conceived is not possible, but anyway: DO\n   your answers imply that it is NOT possible (by \"possible\", I mean\n   of course: possible without re-programming the source code ;-)) to\n   compile git in a way that would enable it to work DIRECTLY with a\n   local repository on FAT32 from both Windows and Linux (or, perhaps\n   more simple: to work directly with a repository on FAT32 under\n   Linux)?\n\n   I'm repeating my question because it is impossible for me to tell\n   whether this would involve a rather simple change (such as: don't\n   use symlinks, and/or: don't care about user/group permissions), or\n   whether the critical differences are rather an inherent\n   characteristic of git, or perhaps even the libraries it uses.\n\n   And: if this were possible, I would consider it a rather attractive\n   idea, not only for me, hence I'd like to rule it out before\n   dropping it altogether.\n\n\n2. ad Martin: Ouf! I have no idea of how Samba works (well, yes: I\n   thought it was some kind of server or client program permitting to\n   connect to Windows servers or clients), hence I don't get a very\n   clear idea of what you have in mind. I hope I have made it clear\n   that I am using only one computer (double-boot, simply), and that\n   everything is local. I am aware that Linux permits to do \"virtual\"\n   networking with localhost, but how would your scheme work on a\n   single machine? Can samba \"pretend\" there is a Windows network\n   behind it, while in truth, it accesses a local directory (on\n   FAT32)? And can git work directly in a repository it considers to\n   be accessible over the network only?\n\n   The interesting thing in this could be that one could use indeed\n   the same repository under both OSes. If I got vaguely the right\n   idea, that is.\n\n3. ad Johannes: This does sound quite simple and straightforward. If I\n   got it right, it would involve having one repository on a, say,\n   ext2 partition to work with under Linux, and one on a FAT32\n   partition to work with under Windows, and syncing the two after\n   booting (fetching from FAT32) and before shutting down (pushing to\n   FAT32) Linux.\n\n   It is quite interesting, BTW, that git can /sync/ with a repository\n   on FAT32 under Linux, but not work with it.\n\n\nThanks very much for both answers! I would still be curious to know\nwhether there is an answer to my first question, but yours should get\nme working one way or other.\n\nRegards, Florian\n"},{"id":"298005","messageId":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612161227510.3635@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"0ML25U-1GvWC81sjR-0001UB@mrelayeu.kundenserver.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Johannes Schindelin","fromEmail":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","sentAt":"2006-12-16T11:37:31Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-16T11:37:31Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/127790?v=4"},"body":"Hi,\n\nOn Sat, 16 Dec 2006, Florian v. Savigny wrote:\n\n> DO your answers imply that it is NOT possible (by \"possible\", I mean of \n> course: possible without re-programming the source code ;-)) to compile \n> git in a way that would enable it to work DIRECTLY with a local \n> repository on FAT32 from both Windows and Linux (or, perhaps more \n> simple: to work directly with a repository on FAT32 under Linux)?\n\nMy answer was not so clear...\n\nQuestion: Is it possible to use git on a FAT32 filesystem?\n\nAnswer: Yes.\n\nQuestion: Is it possible to access such a repository from both Linux and \nWindows?\n\nAnswer: Yes.\n\nQuestion: Is there anything that could cause problems?\n\nAnswer: Yes. The working directory is a problem.\n\n\t- Symlinks for example. Don't use them.\n\t- Umlauts: don't use them.\n\t- The index has to be updated, since the stat information is \n\t  unlikely to match. A simple \"git status\" should suffice, though.\n\t- Permissions: the permission handling of Linux and Windows are\n\t  quite different. If you initialize the repository with Cygwin,\n\t  it automatically sets core.filemode=false, if you initalize(d) \n\t  with Linux, you have to adjust manually.\n\nQuestion: Are there other shortcomings to this approach?\n\nAnswer: Definitely. Most are only annoying (like the performance of FAT32, \nwhich literally sucks), but some are different: for example, if you \ncompile things in the working directory, you will be unhappy.\n\n> 3. ad Johannes: This does sound quite simple and straightforward. If I\n>    got it right, it would involve having one repository on a, say,\n>    ext2 partition to work with under Linux, and one on a FAT32\n>    partition to work with under Windows, and syncing the two after\n>    booting (fetching from FAT32) and before shutting down (pushing to\n>    FAT32) Linux.\n\nThis is how I'd do it.\n\n>    It is quite interesting, BTW, that git can /sync/ with a repository\n>    on FAT32 under Linux, but not work with it.\n\nYou can. But I wouldn't. I like to keep separations clean and obvious.\n\nCiao,\n"},{"id":"293897","messageId":"46a038f90612170221u4c3b5c2asef378d3d4e159ba7@mail.gmail.com","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612161227510.3635@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Martin Langhoff","fromEmail":"martin.langhoff@gmail.com","sentAt":"2006-12-17T10:21:04Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-17T10:21:04Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"martin.langhoff@gmail.com","avatar":"https://gravatar.com/avatar/1e3f311b6c4c15836501901ca58f8c0b0667246488084ba524d8bc9867e22fd9?d=mp&s=160"},"body":"On 12/17/06, Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de> wrote:\n> > 3. ad Johannes: This does sound quite simple and straightforward. If I\n> >    got it right, it would involve having one repository on a, say,\n> >    ext2 partition to work with under Linux, and one on a FAT32\n> >    partition to work with under Windows, and syncing the two after\n> >    booting (fetching from FAT32) and before shutting down (pushing to\n> >    FAT32) Linux.\n>\n> This is how I'd do it.\n\nAnd I concur - I had only introduced Samba to the conversation because\nI thought you were talking about several computers. If you are\ndual-booting on one machine, I'd do as above.\n\nNote that under windows you can use ext2 -- haven't used it, and don't\nknow how cygwin behaves with it, but it may be *just* what you need to\navoid case sensitivity problems and have symlink support.\n\n    http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd\n\n    http://www.fs-driver.org/\n\ncheers,\n\n\n\n"},{"id":"295500","messageId":"906f26060612170633h50e3e974h3b84f1829e546278@mail.gmail.com","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"46a038f90612170221u4c3b5c2asef378d3d4e159ba7@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Stefano Spinucci","fromEmail":"virgo977virgo@gmail.com","sentAt":"2006-12-17T14:33:58Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-17T14:33:58Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"virgo977virgo@gmail.com","avatar":null},"body":"I just tried to use git writing to my FAT32 formatted usb stick.\n\nOn windows XP, I compiled git with and without NO_D_TYPE_IN_DIRENT,\nbut after the\nfollowing actions I always got the error \"fatal: Unable to write new\nindex file\" or\n\"fatal: unable to create '.git/index': File exists\":\n\nmkdir git-test-repo\ncd git-test-repo\ngit-init-db\necho iii>test\ngit add test\ngit commit -m \"test msg\"\necho ooo>test1\ngit add test1 ***error***\n\nconverting the stick to NTFS I have no problems.\n\nany hint ???\n\n---\n"},{"id":"295127","messageId":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612171550510.3635@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"906f26060612170633h50e3e974h3b84f1829e546278@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Johannes Schindelin","fromEmail":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","sentAt":"2006-12-17T14:54:21Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-17T14:54:21Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/127790?v=4"},"body":"Hi,\n\nOn Sun, 17 Dec 2006, Stefano Spinucci wrote:\n\n> I just tried to use git writing to my FAT32 formatted usb stick.\n> \n> On windows XP, I compiled git with and without NO_D_TYPE_IN_DIRENT, but \n> after the following actions I always got the error \"fatal: Unable to \n> write new index file\" or \"fatal: unable to create '.git/index': File \n> exists\":\n\nCome to think of it, I probably never tried to actually _commit_ on \nFAT32... Sorry.\n\nI will not be able to test this scenario until Tuesday, though. Sorry \nagain!\n\nCiao,\n"},{"id":"295666","messageId":"17797.35177.550000.996862@lapjr.intranet.kiel.bmiag.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"906f26060612170633h50e3e974h3b84f1829e546278@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Juergen Ruehle","fromEmail":"j.ruehle@bmiag.de","sentAt":"2006-12-17T18:16:09Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-17T18:16:09Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"j.ruehle@bmiag.de","avatar":null},"body":"Stefano Spinucci writes:\n > I just tried to use git writing to my FAT32 formatted usb stick.\n > \n > On windows XP, I compiled git with and without NO_D_TYPE_IN_DIRENT,\n > but after the\n > following actions I always got the error \"fatal: Unable to write new\n > index file\" or\n > \"fatal: unable to create '.git/index': File exists\":\n\nCompile git with NO_MMAP. The problem is that the old index file is\nmmaped while it is replaced. Cygwin supports this operation only on\nNTFS. I don't know whether this is a bug in cygwin or a windows\nlimitation (I suspect the latter).\n\nUnfortunately NO_MMAP makes git pretty slow if the pack files get\nlarger than about 10-20 MB.\n\nJohannes claims that there are additional problems with mmap on\ncygwin, but it passes the complete test suite on NTFS, so it should be\nok for most operations\n\nIIRC it has been suggested on the list that mmaping the index isn't\nthat important for git performance and it could be replaced by simply\nreading the index file into memory on access.\n\nIt would be nice to have mmap work on non-NTFS partitions since my\ntests suggest that FAT32 is up to twice as fast (in the hot cache\ncase). (My test version simply uses an unlink before the rename in\nlockfile.c to hack around the cygwin rename problem.)\n"},{"id":"294953","messageId":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612172027400.3635@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"17797.35177.550000.996862@lapjr.intranet.kiel.bmiag.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Johannes Schindelin","fromEmail":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","sentAt":"2006-12-17T19:33:05Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-17T19:33:05Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/127790?v=4"},"body":"Hi,\n\nOn Sun, 17 Dec 2006, Juergen Ruehle wrote:\n\n> Johannes claims that there are additional problems with mmap on cygwin, \n> but it passes the complete test suite on NTFS, so it should be ok for \n> most operations\n\nI encountered a problem with git-log, where the fork() tried to \nreestablish a mmap()ed file, which unfortunately was renamed (since it was \na .lock file[*1*]). This triggered the implementation of NO_MMAP.\n\nI am sure that there are more problems with it. BTW the problem stems from \nWindows having _no_ equivalent to fork().\n\nNotefoot 1: Isn't it funny that Windows cannot delete files which are \nstill opened, but does not care when it is renamed?\n\nCiao,\n"},{"id":"296371","messageId":"906f26060612171736pab766b7t15a36d4d3fc7e85f@mail.gmail.com","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612172027400.3635@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Stefano Spinucci","fromEmail":"virgo977virgo@gmail.com","sentAt":"2006-12-18T01:36:24Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-18T01:36:24Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"virgo977virgo@gmail.com","avatar":null},"body":"On 12/17/06, Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de> wrote:\n> ...\n> I am sure that there are more problems with it. BTW the problem stems from\n> Windows having _no_ equivalent to fork().\n> ...\n\nI recompiled git with NO_MMAP and used it successfully, then I added a\nnote in the wiki\npage http://git.or.cz/gitwiki/WindowsInstall on how to compile git to\nwork on a FAT32\nfilesystem.\n\nNow, two questions...\n\nif you are sure that there are more problems with using MMAP, shouldn't NO_MMAP\nbe commented better in the Makefile and in INSTALL, pointing out to\nuse it always on\ncygwin ???\n\nfinally on cygwin there is a precompiled git package (v 1.4.4.1);\nhowever, I found if it was\ncompiled *with* MMAP support... should I write to the cygwin-apps list\nasking for a\ndifferent compilation (with NO_MMAP), or for the majority of the users\nthe standard\ncompilation is a better choice ???\n\nbye\n\n---\n"},{"id":"297449","messageId":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612181435100.19693@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"906f26060612171736pab766b7t15a36d4d3fc7e85f@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Johannes Schindelin","fromEmail":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","sentAt":"2006-12-18T13:38:18Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-18T13:38:18Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"johannes.schindelin@gmx.de","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/127790?v=4"},"body":"Hi,\n\nOn Mon, 18 Dec 2006, Stefano Spinucci wrote:\n\n> On 12/17/06, Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de> wrote:\n> > ...\n> > I am sure that there are more problems with it. BTW the problem stems from\n> > Windows having _no_ equivalent to fork().\n> > ...\n> \n> if you are sure that there are more problems with using MMAP, shouldn't \n> NO_MMAP be commented better in the Makefile and in INSTALL, pointing out \n> to use it always on cygwin ???\n\nI argued for that a long time ago, but there were a couple \"works-for-me\"s \nand I just shut up.\n\nIt could also be the case that for most operations, git became safe over \ntime. For example, my biggest problem was the fork()ed diff in git-log, \nwhich was substituted by a non-forking inbuilt diff.\n\n> should I write to the cygwin-apps list asking for a different \n> compilation (with NO_MMAP), or for the majority of the users the \n> standard compilation is a better choice ???\n\nGiven that most Windows setups nowadays run on NTFS, I doubt that this is \nnecessary. I use NO_MMAP myself on Windows, just in case, though.\n\nCiao,\nDscho\n"},{"id":"293827","messageId":"17798.41845.872000.413512@lapjr.intranet.kiel.bmiag.de","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612181435100.19693@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Juergen Ruehle","fromEmail":"j.ruehle@bmiag.de","sentAt":"2006-12-18T14:19:33Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-18T14:19:33Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"j.ruehle@bmiag.de","avatar":null},"body":"Johannes Schindelin writes:\n > On Mon, 18 Dec 2006, Stefano Spinucci wrote:\n > > On 12/17/06, Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de> wrote:\n > > > I am sure that there are more problems with it. BTW the problem stems from\n > > > Windows having _no_ equivalent to fork().\n > > \n > > if you are sure that there are more problems with using MMAP, shouldn't \n > > NO_MMAP be commented better in the Makefile and in INSTALL, pointing out \n > > to use it always on cygwin ???\n > \n > I argued for that a long time ago, but there were a couple \"works-for-me\"s \n > and I just shut up.\n\nIt would be nice to have test cases documenting known failures. Then\npeople could decide whether these cases are important for their work,\nsince I don't think it's actually possible to loose data this way.\n\nPersonally I've been unsuccessful in trying to recreate failures, but\nthat is probably just an indication of my inability to use git\ncorrectly:-)\n"},{"id":"297310","messageId":"Pine.LNX.4.63.0612191357020.18007@qynat.qvtvafvgr.pbz","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"0MKwpI-1GuWVF2znk-0006fC@mrelayeu.kundenserver.de","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"David Lang","fromEmail":"dlang@digitalinsight.com","sentAt":"2006-12-19T21:57:52Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-19T21:57:52Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"dlang@digitalinsight.com","avatar":null},"body":"On Wed, 13 Dec 2006, Florian v. Savigny wrote:\n\n> I would like to use git to develop a somewhat larger Perl project\n> which I would need to test and develop under both Linux and Windows,\n> i.e. I would need a repository on a FAT32 partition (to my knowledge,\n> still the only filesystem that can be fully accessed from both OSes -\n> correct me if I'm wrong)\n\nthere are drivers available for windows to let it access ext2/3 partitions. I \ndon't know if that would help any in this situation.\n\nDavid Lang\n"},{"id":"295485","messageId":"91705d080612191555k3dc6a473n4b1e4df2d22880bf@mail.gmail.com","threadId":"43086","inReplyTo":"46a038f90612170221u4c3b5c2asef378d3d4e159ba7@mail.gmail.com","subject":"Re: Can git be tweaked to work cross-platform, on FAT32?","fromName":"Dan Nicholson","fromEmail":"dbn.lists@gmail.com","sentAt":"2006-12-19T23:55:03Z","receivedAt":"2006-12-19T23:55:03Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"dbn.lists@gmail.com","avatar":null},"body":"On 12/17/06, Martin Langhoff <martin.langhoff@gmail.com> wrote:\n>\n> Note that under windows you can use ext2 -- haven't used it, and don't\n> know how cygwin behaves with it, but it may be *just* what you need to\n> avoid case sensitivity problems and have symlink support.\n>\n>     http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd\n>\n>     http://www.fs-driver.org/\n\nI've used both of these guys, but not the most recent versions. Both\nwere previously read-only, but now it appears both have write support\nfrom looking at the release notes. Both were a bit heavy handed to get\nsetup, but a decently computer literate person could probably handle\nit. Ext2IFS in particular looks dramatically improved from when I last\nused it.\n\nBoth worked fine through Cygwin for simple usage. I never did anything\nwith serious disk usage on either of them, so I can't say how it\nstacks up to FAT32 on Linux in terms of really hammering the disk.\n\nA little more reading says ext2ifs can't handle permissions or symbolic links.\n\nhttp://www.fs-driver.org/faq.html\n\nI don't recall the details of ext2fsd, but I think symbolic links\nworked. I'd like to look at this again, but I spend all my time in\nLinux at home.\n\n--\n"}]}