JAMFS- a followup to RKFS

This is part one of a series of posts on Linux Filesystem development..

I'm presuming that you are here, because you are interested in filesystem development in Linux and you are familiar with the rkfs. That(rkfs) is one of the most important and basic documents that you have to read and try to understand. Also i'm assuming that you are familiar with the very interesting and equally intriguing VFS, the linux Virtual FileSystem, also known by other names. Inorder to proceed in the field of linux filesystem development, you will have you appreciate the beauty and genius of the VFS.

Now, what we did in jamfs(JAM stands primarily for the initials of its creators, and maybe for it being a modified version of rkfs) was not that big an achievement primarily because we still have kept the filesystem as a memory one and haven't touched the memory management coding done by Mr. Ravikiran. We took on the project so that we could study the VFS and understand it as much as we could, the major modification that we did for the project was that we changed the single file approach by Ravi[hope he doesnt mind me calling him Ravi ;) ] to a filesystem that could handle as many files as needed and include calls like 'rename' file, etc..

Before you proceed further, please understand that my project was very hasty one, and there are a few bugs, which I havent fixed yet. I do not intend to walk you through the same path Ravi has taken you, I'm writing this article for people like me who initially read Ravi's material and went searching for something more. Also i strongly recommend that you have alongside with you abook on linux kernel developement, if possible a chm file or a e-book(enabling quick and efficient searching). Apart from this I will list out the major things you will need to know before you kick start your project.

.. the search...

the first post is of course dedicated to the fact that ur project what ever it might be always starts with a search... u start searching, first your soul to find that particular field of interest that u feel will always keep u occupied.

Allow me to shed light on this with respect to my own experiences.. I came to NIT-C, to undergo a course in engg. , but i was fully aware that just a theory course will help me in no way, i needed to know more. I really needed to do something which was not done usually and something that would also help me gain an upper hand in my classes and else.(FYI, I'd rather keep the opening post a little short to keep it light). Well towards the end of the first year when all the Btech students had done the very same course and had kept themselves into theory, I was inclined to do something that would keep me interested and also give me a stepping stone to the next year. That when I and my buddies realised that we should take up robotics, we built a line follower robot. You can easily find more on that online than from me. So I suggest that you immediately hunt down your passion and make sure its feasible. guess this will do for now.