While really really bored, Chris Jones wrote:
> Is there anything in NetBSD along the lines of a compressed
> filesystem?  I realize that, if I were really industrious, I could
> probably write a lkm to do this, but I don't think I'm that
> industrious.  :)

I've had this idea in pocket for a year or two.
Perhaps we could modify the cfs (crypting file system) to do compression
instead, or we could do a userland-filesystem (better than NFS loopback) as
a model, and it could serve as a skeleton for other ones.

I've got a mail dir that would compress well, as well as my CVS hierarchy,
and /usr/src, and my sup area, and /var/log (obviating the need for
compressed files like wtmp.0.gz!), and....
(it's tempting in light of recent revelations about disk consumption)

Some have said that the problem with compression is that certain calls
do not mesh with the current usage well, but I don't think that is the case.
Or if it is, they need to be re-thought.
Frankly, I doubt there are any problems that cannot be circumvented via
reworking (restricting?) the interface.
Plus, with vnd, you could probably (this is a hunch) debug the filesystem
extremely easily, since it would be a normal unix file. AFAIK.
-- 
VaX#n8 (vak-sa-nate) - n, CS senior++ and Unix junkie - vax@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
Deal with evil through strength, yet encourage good through trust.    - PGP me