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This should be top comment. If you want to preserve non-Linux attributes, you can NOT use tools that are unaware of how to handle the different assumptions mad

This should be top comment. If you want to preserve non-Linux attributes, you can NOT use tools that are unaware of how to handle the different assumptions made. If you don't mind smashing these attributes, go ahead, but don't cry foul. It is not broken. If you want to just transfer files for their content, there is a method provide in TFA, but that is not the matter at hand here. There is simply an impedance mismatch between how these operating systems view files. Sure, you can suggest a bunch of guesses about what to do if you edit or drop a file from one context into the other without both operating systems agreeing on how to manage that but you will find yourself arguing about what "sensible default" means until the cows come home.

userbinator 10y ago
If you want to just transfer files for their content, there is a method provide in TFA, but that is not the matter at hand here. It is. One can reasonably argue that it's natural for the parts that don't correspond between the two OSs to be lost in the transfer. But the main problem is that according to the article, it treats missing Linux metadata as an error. Sure, you can suggest a bunch of guesses about what 1to do if you edit or drop a file from one context into the other without both operating systems agreeing on how to manage that but you will find yourself arguing about what "sensible default" means until the cows come home. No doubt at MS there was probably large amounts of bikeshed over this, but I don't think "sensible default" should ever be "give up". Unfortunately, having been in a few design discussions with similar results, I have a good idea of exactly how that decision was reached: no one could agree on the precise behaviour, and "leave it out" or "make it an error" got chosen, simply because anything else would be perceived as supporting one alternative over another. Even randomly choosing one of the options would've been far preferable to having no option at all, to the surprise and disappointment of the users. Someone brought up a related issue at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12981620 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12981620 (HN discussion is at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11008449 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11008449 ) in a different context, but it may have come from a similar (in)decision process: "we can't agree on a default, so let's just leave it as an error" --- nevermind the fact that in that case, it means bricking the user's machine, and imploring systemd to try to work around it.

userbinator 10y ago

If you want to just transfer files for their content, there is a method provide in TFA, but that is not the matter at hand here. It is. One can reasonably argue that it's natural for the parts that don't correspond between the two OSs to be lost in the transfer. But the main problem is that according to the article, it treats missing Linux metadata as an error. Sure, you can suggest a bunch of guesses about what 1to do if you edit or drop a file from one context into the other without both operating systems agreeing on how to manage that but you will find yourself arguing about what "sensible default" means until the cows come home. No doubt at MS there was probably large amounts of bikeshed over this, but I don't think "sensible default" should ever be "give up". Unfortunately, having been in a few design discussions with similar results, I have a good idea of exactly how that decision was reached: no one could agree on the precise behaviour, and "leave it out" or "make it an error" got chosen, simply because anything else would be perceived as supporting one alternative over another. Even randomly choosing one of the options would've been far preferable to having no option at all, to the surprise and disappointment of the users. Someone brought up a related issue at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12981620 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12981620 (HN discussion is at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11008449 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11008449 ) in a different context, but it may have come from a similar (in)decision process: "we can't agree on a default, so let's just leave it as an error" --- nevermind the fact that in that case, it means bricking the user's machine, and imploring systemd to try to work around it.