In the upcoming Linux 7.1 merge window, a significant change has attracted the attention of the community: a senior kernel developer submitted a new NTFS file system driver pull request, hoping to incorporate it into the mainline kernel to replace the NTFS3 driver currently contributed by Paragon Software but with limited feature progress in recent years, thus significantly improving the NTFS experience under Linux.
The person responsible for the development of this new driver is veteran Linux developer Namjae Jeon, who previously led multiple kernel projects such as the exFAT driver and KSMBD. As early as last year, he announced a new NTFS driver called "NTFSPLUS", which aims to surpass the existing NTFS3 and other NTFS driver solutions in terms of performance and features. After several rounds of iterations, the project eventually dropped the name "NTFS PLUS" and was instead viewed as a modern remake of the early Linux NTFS kernel driver.
This development work has been going on for about four years, and now it has achieved complete write support for the NTFS file system, which has significantly improved stability compared to NTFS3, and the passing situation in the XFStests test suite is also more ideal. At the same time, the new driver also provides user-mode tools for performing operation and maintenance work such as file system check (FSCK), further improving the overall solution.
At the integration level of the kernel technology stack, this new version of the NTFS driver greatly embraces the new features of the contemporary Linux kernel, including mechanisms such as IOmap and folio. Its degree of integration is even better than the NTFS3 driver in the current kernel, achieving an implementation path that is closer to the contemporary kernel architecture. Over the past two months, this new set of drivers has entered the Linux-Next branch, is being tested and used in a wider environment, and has also received code review comments from multiple key kernel maintainers and stakeholders.
In terms of code size, this new/refactored NTFS driver brings more than 36,000 lines of new code to the Linux kernel, reflecting the complexity and scope of changes of the project. Currently, Linus Torvalds has not publicly stated whether he will accept this driver within the Linux 7.1 merge window, which will end next weekend, and related decisions are still pending.
It is worth noting that even if this pull request is approved, after the new NTFS driver is added to the kernel source code tree, the existing NTFS3 driver will still be temporarily retained, so that users who still have needs or preferences can continue to use the original solution to provide greater flexibility during the transition period.
Developers and users who are interested in this new NTFS driver can learn more detailed technical details and discussion process through the pull request submitted this time:
https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAKYAXd-knEHqHPgz83+bOaLHAcA=f97f2-mnJxLmu0MiDkTgDA@mail.gmail.com/