Microsoft wants exFAT in the Linux kernel and opens file system specifications



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Microsoft wants exFAT in the Linux kernel and opens file system specifications

Microsoft today announced support for the inclusion of its Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) file system for USB drives and SD cards in the Linux kernel through the Open Invention Network.

"We are pleased to announce today that Microsoft supports the addition of Microsoft's exFAT technology to the Linux kernel," said John Gossman, Microsoft's distinguished engineer and board member. 39, Linux Foundation Administration.

The proprietary exFAT technology was introduced more than ten years ago in 2006 as a successor to FAT32 in the FAT family of file systems. It is now used by the vast majority of flash storage devices.

Although a free FUSE-based exFAT implementation is available for Linux users wishing to mount exFAT-format SD cards and Flash keys on their computers, this driver still strives to provide a full implementation.

Linux code exFAT will be available under GPLv2

In anticipation of a future Linux kernel supporting exFAT, Microsft has released the exFAT technical specification on the website of its Windows Development Center.

Redmond too m said that they "make available to all exFAT technical specifications freely, and that the exFAT code embedded in the Linux kernel will be available under GPLv2".

"It's important to us that the Linux community can confidently use the exFAT included in the Linux kernel," added Mr. Gossman.

"To this end, we will release Microsoft's technical specifications for exFAT to facilitate the development of compliant and interoperable implementations."

"We are also in favor of the possible inclusion of a Linux kernel that supports exFAT in a future revision of the Open Invention Linux system definition where, once accepted, the code will benefit from the commitments in defensive patents of the 3040 members and licensees of ISO. "

The open source path of Microsoft

Microsoft joined the Linux Foundation as a platinum member in November 2016 after slowly adopting the open source software model after Satya Nadella took over the group.

Previously, Redmond had introduced a variety of other technologies and basic tools, including the .NET compiler, the Edge JavaScript engine, TypeScript, and Xamarin.

Microsoft has also developed Windows' Windows Subsystem (WSL), a compatibility layer that allows Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 users to natively run ELF-based Linux binaries on their computers.

Even more recently, Redmond developers have started working on WSL2, which uses a true open source kernel compiled from Linux 's stable version 4.19 on Kernel.org, thus no longer requiring the use of Linux. a translation layer between applications and their system calls. .

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