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Ubuntu Developer Manager Scott James Remnant said that the next version of Ubuntu 10.10 could include btrfs as the default filesystem replacing ext4.
A lot has to go right between now and the Ubuntu 10.10 feature freeze before btrfs can get promoted to the default.
“Btrfs is a new copy on write filesystem for Linux aimed at implementing advanced features while focusing on fault tolerance, repair and easy administration. Initially developed by Oracle, Btrfs is licensed under the GPL,” according to the Kernel.org Wiki.
Remnant said that btrfs needs to not be marked “experimental” in the kernel config.
“We understand that this is planned for 2.6.35, which is the kernel version we are expecting to ship” with Ubuntu 10.10, Remnant said.
The new filesystem currently is not supported by Grub2, Ubuntu’s boot loader, or the installer. That would need to be finished, Remnant said, before feature freeze.
“If that happens,” he explained, “we may make it the default for Alpha releases to gain testing; that testing must go smoothly.”
Also, the btrfs upstream must be happy with the idea and, Remnant said, “we must be happy with the idea.”
He put the odds of all of this working out at 1 in 5.
