From what I've heard, Apple dropped ZFS because Sun couldn't guarantee support of it (the "private license" part), now that it has been bought by Oracle. A file system is way too important to leave to another company to decide your fate. Apple wanted to guarantee it was protected if it decided to completely invest in ZFS. #leopard
1. Sun is currently in the middle of litigation with NetApp over ZFS (hence the "indemnification" issues).
2. Sun is soon to be owned by Oracle, which is in the midst of developing BTRFS - an open source file-system with many of ZFS's strengths and lacking a few of the weaknesses. Some feel BTRFS will be the default LINUX file system before too long.
3. BTRFS is not yet finished - which means it's not yet ready for a commercial OS, but also leaves room for tweaking and adding before it is "final".
4. Apple wants a modern file system now, but will _need_ a modern file system soon.
5. Jobs and Ellison are friends.
I'm guessing that Apple has abandoned ZFS for BTRFS, saving them a potential lawsuit (if NetApp wins or settles) and allowing them to increase their interoperability with future *nix distros. We'll know for sure if Apple employees start popping up on the BTRFS mailing lists... #leopard
As much as it pains me to defend Apple here, a lack of willingness to share wasn't the issue. From the cited mailing list Apple wanted a license "with appropriate technical support and indemnification". Technical support and indemnification are required for something as important as a filesystem. I have to give credit to Apple's legal counsel or whomever for making that call.
If true, knowing that ZFS is supposedly an outstanding file system, could we interpret Apple's need for a "private license" as being bad for us consumers, or does this ultimately not matter? I am not certain how I feel about this information, if it is true. #leopard
@GizMadone: Pffft! It's like you somehow think that snowmobiles will be ridden in places where there's wind and snow! That's crazy talk! Snowmobiles are purely indoor vehicles! Windscreens are totally decorative!
@Lizard_King: Snow-machines are referred to as the machines that actually make snow on ski-loedges. We've called them snowmobiles ever since I was a kid (for at least 25+ years). Then again, my family comes from Vermont where snowmobiles are common.
@Preyfar: I've called them snow mobiles since i was a kid too. However, last year in the news you heard a lot about "snow machine racing", especially when discussing the one running mate's husband. She had corrected a few people who had mistakenly called them "snow mobiles"
@burningsensation: Believe it or not they do use snow making machines on some of the ski hills. Though mostly in the interior. Fairbanks is in the middle of an arctic desert. We don't get that much snow. A few feet at the most, and some years half that might sublime away. We call snow mobiles "snow machines" which confused the hell out of me when I moved up here. In Ohio they call them snow mobiles.
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2. Sun is soon to be owned by Oracle, which is in the midst of developing BTRFS - an open source file-system with many of ZFS's strengths and lacking a few of the weaknesses. Some feel BTRFS will be the default LINUX file system before too long.
3. BTRFS is not yet finished - which means it's not yet ready for a commercial OS, but also leaves room for tweaking and adding before it is "final".
4. Apple wants a modern file system now, but will _need_ a modern file system soon.
5. Jobs and Ellison are friends.
I'm guessing that Apple has abandoned ZFS for BTRFS, saving them a potential lawsuit (if NetApp wins or settles) and allowing them to increase their interoperability with future *nix distros. We'll know for sure if Apple employees start popping up on the BTRFS mailing lists... #leopard
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Not very open source friendly, but well within their realm of legal rights.
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In Scotland we call them "skedaddles"
*sigh*
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Hold RB To Hijack Banshee