On Sunday 09 May 2021, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 08/05/2021 20.49, Larry Len Rainey wrote:
Why not have an option for novice that does choice of UEFI or Legacy install with ext4 full root and swap of ram size - now you don't have to worry about size and btrfs problems for novices users - that is better until they can comprehend btrfs and other file system types and partitions.
That would be my choice, but is not what the people that doit chose.
...
Totally agree. To the uninformed the default btrfs install appears much like any non-btrfs installation. Many treat it as such until they strike trouble (or need to do some kind of maintenance such as moving to a new disk or setting up recoverable backups). Before running with btrfs a user needs to become familiar with the concepts and procedures. The simple things like df and du can no longer be trusted, that btrfs alternatives must be used (why doesn't someone amend the real df and real du - or make then error on btrfs). There are more complicated issues, such as how to you properly move or backup the root volume. Some understanding of the true/underlying structure of a btrfs root is necessary: this should include the subvolume layout, the special "@" subvolume the ID zero subvolume, and how snapshots fit into this structure. Perhaps there needs to be a daemon that checks the state of btrfs root volumes and takes action, or suggests action, well before space becomes an issue. Back in 2016 I used a VM to evaluate btrfs and concluded that ext4 was preferable for my relatively simple desktop needs. I wrote up those experiences and posted them: https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/521277-LEAP-42-2-btrfs-root-files... (Note the root volume structure included in OpenSUSE has undergone some refinement and simplification since 2016.) It was only by performing that exercise that I came to appreciated how different an OpenSUSE btrfs root volume is from the ext4 equivalent and how much my current practices would have to change in making the switch. There now appears to some pretty good documentation for snapper/btrfs written for arch and SUSE, but I'm still surprised to see that issues such as those with df/du are still overlooked. I'm not knocking the advantage of btrfs/snapper, but people need to understand it a bit and be aware of how to use and maintain it properly. It may be that automated processes could remove the need for any good level of understanding, but I don't think we are at that point. Michael