They are here! M$ and a new trick!

[chris]

CodeSmith wrote:
Besides, one of the articles said that CF manufacturers have to pay a fee for each preformatted card, that means that it's the raw format that is being licensed, not the filesystem's algorithms.

Hmm, so surely all they have to do is provide the flash memory unformatted, leaving formatting as an exercise to the user?  I assume these are just like floppy disks (which incidentally also tend to come pre-formatted with FAT FS), and don't care what format they have - so on an Amiga you could format them with FFS.

Digital cameras are another matter though, as they internally need to be able to read the filesystem.  The best bet here is to devise a custom filesystem, but that not only makes it overly complicated to read with Windows (it is near impossible to get Windows to read any non-native filesystems, just like you can't easily add drivers for new types of hardware), but makes it even more difficult to read with any other OS, because the manufacturer isn't going to provide a Linux, Mac or Amiga compatible filesystem to use with their camera.

So, much as I hate to say it, and much as I think FAT is probably the worst filesystem anybody could consider using, looking at the alternatives, digital camera wise, it is probably best if they just buy a licence.

For normal storage devices though I would leave them with no filesystem if possible and leave any formatting up to the user.

Chris

[chris]

Coder wrote:
That's the whole point. Now that they see that something is worth while charging they do. Give something for free and when it is used a lot charge for it.

I think there is a lesson to be learnt here: if you want to make a device which is in some way reliant on non-open non-free standards, find an open and free standard to use instead!

Chris

[chris]

CodeSmith wrote:
I don't think you're grasping all the implications of the raw format being licensed.  That means that it's impossible to write a non-infringing FAT filesystem, because regardless of how it's written, the bits on the disk (ie what is being licensed) must be the same, otherwise it's not a FAT disk.  This affects the amiga because if one does not pay the license, then the only way to share files with a PC is a network of some kind, or a writable CD.

Hmm, okay, but it doesn't affect the Amiga much, because most users would already have CrossDOS or similar.  Having said that, it would make things a teensy bit inconvenient for new users.

@Hammer
Pentium VI?  Can I borrow your time machine?  :-)

Chris

[chris]

bloodline wrote:
Boot linux, and format a floppy using ext2 file system.

Now put the standard MSDOS shell command.com on that disk.

pop that floppy disk in the drive and rest your machine. it will come up with an error.

That's because there is no bootblock telling it what it should do next.  Format a disk with NTFS and it will complain "cannot find NTLDR".  Format a disk as FAT with CrossDOS and it gives you a different message (something about it being a non-bootable CrossDOS formatted disk, but I forget the exact wording).

The same thing applies on the Amiga, if you don't run "install", the disk won't boot.  If you run "install" from 2.0+, you get a blank screen and it loads s:startup-sequence.  Commercial games had their own custom bootblock, often on a not normally readable filesystem, and they still managed to boot.

Chris