Re: [ANNOUNCE] mini_fo-0.6.0 overlay file system

["Jörn Engel" <joern@wohnheim.fh-wedel.de>]

On Mon, 9 May 2005 20:40:22 +0200, Markus Klotzbuecher wrote:
> 
> mini_fo is a virtual kernel filesystem that can make read-only file
> systems writable. This is done by redirecting modifying operations to
> a writeable location called "storage directory", and leaving the
> original data in the "base directory" untouched. When reading, the
> file system merges the modifed and original data so that only the
> newest versions will appear. This occurs transparently to the user,
> who can access the data like on any other read-write file system.
> 
> mini_fo was originally developed for use in embedded systems, and
> therefore is lightweight in terms of module size (~50K), memory usage
> and storage usage. Nevertheless it has proved usefull for other
> projects such as live cds or for sandboxing and testing.

Just out of curiosity: how do you perform the copy-up operation?
In-kernel copies of large files are a huge problem and for union-mount
purposes, I'm clueless about how to fix things.

Jörn

-- 
The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of
his own skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full
humility, and among other things he avoids clever tricks like the plague. 
-- Edsger W. Dijkstra