Expand discussion of file system types and

make ext4 the example LFS partition type


git-svn-id: http://svn.linuxfromscratch.org/LFS/trunk/BOOK@10286 4aa44e1e-78dd-0310-a6d2-fbcd4c07a689

2 files changed, 44 insertions, 18 deletions

diff --git a/chapter02/creatingfilesystem.xml b/chapter02/creatingfilesystem.xml
index cb49da0b4..a5b9df3d9 100644
--- a/chapter02/creatingfilesystem.xml
+++ b/chapter02/creatingfilesystem.xml
@@ -10,23 +10,49 @@
 
   <title>Creating a File System on the Partition</title>
 
-  <para>Now that a blank partition has been set up, the file system can be created.
-  The most widely-used system in the Linux world is the second extended file
-  system (<systemitem class="filesystem">ext2</systemitem>), but with newer
-  high-capacity hard disks, journaling file systems are becoming increasingly
-  popular. The third extended filesystem (<systemitem
-  class="filesystem">ext3</systemitem>) is a widely used enhancement to
-  <systemitem class="filesystem">ext2</systemitem>, which adds journaling
-  capabilities and is compatible with the E2fsprogs utilities.
-  We will create an <systemitem class="filesystem">ext3</systemitem>
-  file system. Instructions for creating other file systems can be found at
-  <ulink url="&blfs-root;view/svn/postlfs/filesystems.html"/>.</para>
+  <para>Now that a blank partition has been set up, the file system can be
+  created.  LFS can use any file system recognized by the Linux kernel, but the 
+  most common types are ext3 and ext4.  The choice of file system can be 
+  complex and depends on the characteristics of the files and the size of 
+  the partition.  For example:</para>
 
-  <para>To create an <systemitem class="filesystem">ext3</systemitem> file
-  system on the LFS partition, run the following:</para>
+  <variablelist>
+    <varlistentry>
+      <term>ext2</term>
+      <listitem><para>is suitable for small partitions that are updated infrequently
+      such as /boot.</para>
+      </listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
+    <varlistentry>
+      <term>ext3</term>
+      <listitem><para>is an upgrade to ext2 that includes a journal
+      to help recover the partition's status in the case of an unclean 
+      shutdown.  It is commonly used as a general purpose file system.
+      </para>
+      </listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
+    <varlistentry>
+      <term>ext4</term>
+      <listitem><para>is the latest version of the ext file system family of
+      partition types.  It provides several new capabilties including
+      nano-second timestamps, creation and use of very large files (16 TB), and
+      speed improvements.</para>
+      </listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
+  </variablelist>
 
-<screen role="nodump"><userinput>mke2fs -jv /dev/<replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable></userinput></screen>
+  <para>Other file sytems, including FAT32, NTFS, ReiserFS, JFS, and XFS are
+  useful for specialized purposes.  More information about these file systems
+  can be found at <ulink
+  url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems"/>.</para>
 
+  <para>LFS assumes that the root file system (/) is of type ext4.  To create
+  an <systemitem class="filesystem">ext4</systemitem> file system on the LFS
+  partition, run the following:</para>
+
+<screen role="nodump"><userinput>mkfs -v -t ext4 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable></userinput></screen>
+
+<!--
   <para>Replace <replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> with the name of the LFS
   partition (<filename class="devicefile">sda5</filename> in our previous
   example).</para>
@@ -61,7 +87,7 @@ make #note that we intentionally don't 'make install' here!
 cd /tmp
 rm -rfv e2fsprogs-&e2fsprogs-version;</userinput></screen>
   </note>
-
+-->
   <para>If you are using an existing <systemitem class="filesystem">swap
   </systemitem> partition, there is no need to format it. If a new
   <systemitem class="filesystem"> swap</systemitem> partition was created,
diff --git a/chapter02/mounting.xml b/chapter02/mounting.xml
index 09378afc8..5a6000f73 100644
--- a/chapter02/mounting.xml
+++ b/chapter02/mounting.xml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   running:</para>
 
 <screen role="nodump"><userinput>mkdir -pv $LFS
-mount -v -t ext3 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> $LFS</userinput></screen>
+mount -v -t ext4 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> $LFS</userinput></screen>
 
   <para>Replace <replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> with the designation of the LFS
   partition.</para>
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ mount -v -t ext3 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> $LFS</userinput></s
   class="directory">/usr</filename>), mount them using:</para>
 
 <screen role="nodump"><userinput>mkdir -pv $LFS
-mount -v -t ext3 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> $LFS
+mount -v -t ext4 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> $LFS
 mkdir -v $LFS/usr
-mount -v -t ext3 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;yyy&gt;</replaceable> $LFS/usr</userinput></screen>
+mount -v -t ext4 /dev/<replaceable>&lt;yyy&gt;</replaceable> $LFS/usr</userinput></screen>
 
   <para>Replace <replaceable>&lt;xxx&gt;</replaceable> and
   <replaceable>&lt;yyy&gt;</replaceable> with the appropriate partition