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The exFAT filesystem is coming to Linux:
When software and operating system giant Microsoft announced its support for inclusion of the exFAT filesystem directly into the Linux kernel back in August, it didn't get a ton of press coverage. But filesystem vendor Paragon Software clearly noticed this month's merge of the Microsoft-approved, largely Samsung-authored version of exFAT into the VFS for-next repository, which will in turn merge into Linux 5.7—and Paragon doesn't seem happy about it.
Yesterday, Paragon issued a press release about European gateway-modem vendor Sagemcom adopting its version of exFAT into an upcoming series of Linux-based routers. Unfortunately, it chose to preface the announcement with a stream of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that wouldn't have looked out of place on Steve Ballmer's letterhead in the 1990s.
Paragon described its arguments against open source software—which appeared directly in my inbox—as an "article (available for publication in any form) explaining why the open source model didn't work in 3 cases."
All three of Paragon's offered cases were curious examples, at best.
Case one: Android
Case two: MacOS
Case three: SMB
We congratulate Paragon on closing their timely exFAT deal with Sagemcom. Although there's good reason to believe that the Samsung-derived and Microsoft-approved exFAT implementation in Linux 5.7 will be secure, stable, and highly performant, it's not here yet—and it isn't even in the next upcoming Linux kernel, 5.6, which we expect to hit general availability in late April or early May.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Bot on Thursday March 26 2020, @01:56PM (6 children)
wait, exfat!=fat. GNU/Linux distros have some I guess fuse-based implementation, stable, in my experience.
IIRC, exfat is not totally patent/IP unencumbered, so why paragon should object to it? conflict of interest? reverse psychology to actually help exfat?
Account abandoned.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Grishnakh on Thursday March 26 2020, @01:59PM (3 children)
Paragon objects to it because they sell a proprietary exFAT filesystem driver. Who's going to buy that when the kernel supports exFAT natively with a built-in driver?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2020, @04:43PM (1 child)
apt search exfat
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done
exfat-fuse/stable,now 1.3.0-1 amd64 [installed]
Paragon is ex-fucked anyway
(Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Thursday March 26 2020, @06:43PM
Kernel module provides a lot better performance than fuse implementation.Paragon have own kernel driver, and now kernel will acquire own builtin one which will be as fast as kernel hackers can make it. Paragon's one would become redundant then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2020, @11:35PM
Fuck 'em.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2020, @02:10PM
they complain because they sell a exfat support for linux... with it being included in the kernel, that market will totally dry up (unless you are either stupid or using older kernels that will not have that support, , like in Sagemcom case)
(Score: 3, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Thursday March 26 2020, @02:14PM
True, but exFAT has a FAT gut.