Re: USB keys to the gate of madness

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From: Yossi Kreinin
Subject: Re: USB keys to the gate of madness
Date: 16:11 on 28 Oct 2006
Peter da Silva wrote:
> 
> On Oct 28, 2006, at 6:13 AM, Yossi Kreinin wrote:
> 
>> I also wonder why isn't there a standard file system for these 
>> wonderful devices.
> 
> 
> FAT32 is what everyone uses on them. Bad as it is, and patent-encumbered 
> to boot, it's pretty hateful that it's the standard... but with embedded 
> devices using FAT32 on USB sticks, that's what you got.
> 
> You'd think that USB mass storage devices would expose an API that hid 
> the file system details from the host, but no...
> 
>>
> 
> 

I wish this sad state of affairs were universally true, because last time I 
needed them to work, 2 out of 3 USB sticks used a different file system (I think 
one of them was NTFS). The other reason I wish this were true is that my 
imagination is too week to envision any realistic connection between a stupid 
file system format and the stupid concept of a patent, although my brain knows 
that you can patent everything.

I didn't see anyone exposing an API hiding the details of anything from anyone 
for quite a long time, so I got used to the idea that the only thing that 
matters in the brain-crippled software industry is the actual data format, so 
that everyone can get the pleasure of misimplementing it using his favorite tool 
set. But the bastards wouldn't define a data format either.

-- 
The fastest way to be done with dinner is to NOT clean the kitchen.

If you don't, a mess builds up. To make dinner you have to work through
the dirty pans, cutting off the dried on spaghetti, and melting the
hardened peanut butter. But eventually you will eat dinner.

And STILL the fastest way to be done with dinner is to NOT clean the kitchen.

There's stuff above here

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