On Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:12:54 +0200
jdd
It's _never_ harmless to access a file system out of it own operating system. Fat 32 is not a Linux filesystem, so mounting it read only is a good idea.
1 - it is not mounted read (or write); 2 - if I applied your logic then I would not be able to use my usb key because it is formated fat32 :) Personally I don't see a file system whether it is fat32, ext2, ext3, jfs, reiserfs, xfs, etc as being a "Linux file system" or windows file system. For me, each file system has its own advantages or disadvantages - like speed, security (as in journals), accessibility (as in fat32). I want to be able choose the best one for my particular needs. If someone wants to try out Linux under a dual boot setup - they will from time to time want to share some files between the two OS s (especially if it is an office machine). If they can't do they just might not use Linux because it is too hard to set up. I agree that security is important and that one can't please everyone. Last point, if create a new partition and format it as fat32 (as in this case) then I would like it to be able to share the files (rw) between the two (automatically, without having to raise a support ticket in order to find out how). Even if I know enough to un mount a file system and modify fstab to change the r,w rights and remount it today - I am stupid enough to forget how to do that in a couple of weeks. I guess the bottom line is that choices have to be made and you can't please everyone. Just the same I logged it as a "bug" because that is what it is for me. @+ James