[G4] HFS+ vs. UFS for Panther boot partition on G4

[Aaron]

> Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 12:52:18 -0700
>To: <g4 at listserver.themacintoshguy.com>
>From: Doug McNutt <douglist at macnauchtan.com>
>Subject: Re: [G4] HFS+ vs. UFS for Panther boot partition on G4
>
>At 04:26 -0800 11/23/05, Aaron wrote:
>>I have a few hard disks that I'll shortly be reformatting. While I'll probably format one of them, at least, to boot into OS X on earlier Macs, I want to format one to be best for running OS X on my G4 Dual MDD. I'm wondering about the advantages of the UNIX file system vs. HFS+ for the OS X boot partition.
>
>I'm betting that OS neXt would refuse to install on a strictly UNIX file system. neXt uses resource forks and file metadata - TYPE and CREATOR - that are nor supported in UNIX file systems.

I don't have my OS X installation disks handy to try, but I did copy a couple of files containing a resource fork (one using the X Finder and another using File Buddy) to a UFS-formatted partition and compared them to the original using File Buddy. They are identical. The copies also have the same icons and Type and Creator codes.

I remember reading very recently that a Mac file is represented on a UNIX file system by three files -- one for the resource fork, one for the data fork, and one for the Finder info. When I find the info again, I'll provide a reference to it.

The one thing that seems to be lost when a file is copied in OS X, even to another HFS+ disk, is Finder comments. Unfortunately, I lost some important info before I realized it!

 - Aaron

>The Linux folks have gone away from the older UFS to newer and better stuff.
>
>It is possible, even without server software, to make an HFS+ file system that is case-sensitive. I had some difficulty booting Panther from such a disk but I do most of my work on a partition that is case sensitive. It makes testing of stuff that is headed for a real UNIX box more realistic.