Linux filesystem support for non-Linux file systems

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Linux: Supported non-Linux Filesystems

Unlike most other operating systems, Linux supports a large number of foreign filesystems in addition to its native filesystems. This is possible because of the virtual file system layer, which was incorporated into Linux from its infancy and makes it easy to mount other filesystems. In addition to reading, foreign filesystem support also often includes writing, copying, erasing and other operations.

Among the most commonly used PC filesystems is FAT (File Allocation Table). This is the primary filesystem for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and ME, and it is also supported by Windows NT, 2000 and XP and most other operating systems. The first variant, FAT16, was Microsoft's standard filesystem until Windows 95, and the subsequent FAT32 is the standard for Windows 98 and Windows ME. Linux supports both reading from and writing to FAT16 and FAT32, and their main use on Linux is to share files with Microsoft Windows on dual-boot systems and through floppies.

FAT filesystems can not accommodate information about files such as ownership and permissions. Also, FAT16 partitions are limited to a maximum of 2GB. Although the theoretical maximum size for FAT32 partitions is 8TB, Windows 98's scandisk (disk checking utility) only supports 128GB, and Windows 2000 does not permit the creation of FAT32 disks larger than 32GB.

NTFS is Microsoft's replacement for FAT. A descendant of HPFS (the native filesystem for IBM's OS/2 operating system), NTFS's purpose was to remove the limitations of the FAT filesystem (such as poor stability) while adding new features not found in HPFS. Of the Windows operating systems, it can only be accessed by NT, 2000 and XP. Under Linux, NTFS is currently supported only in read-only mode and only on some distributions.

HFS (Hierarchical File System) is the native filesystem used on most Macintosh computers, and it is sometimes said to be "the Macintosh equivalent of FAT." However, Linux's support for HFS is not as complete as that for many other filesystems. As most Macintoshes include FAT support, it thus might be preferable in some situations to use this filesystem instead of HFS when exchanging data with Macintosh computers.

ISO 9660, released in 1988 by an industry committee called High Sierra, is the standard filesystem for CDROMs. Almost all computers with CDROM drives can read files written in ISO 9660 regardless of their operating system.

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