5 ms·

There are a couple features missing from HFS+. Some of these are implemented in APFS: * Case sensitivity * Clones extents / ranges (reflinking) * Holes in the m

by sargun 10y ago

There are a couple features missing from HFS+. Some of these are implemented in APFS: * Case sensitivity * Clones extents / ranges (reflinking) * Holes in the middle of files * ACLs * Collapsing file ranges * Per file compression and per file encryption These are useful for apps like SQLite or other stores which implement a multi user, log structured store.

yjftsjthsd-h 10y ago
Isn't there a flag to make hfs case sensitive? Programs react poorly because it's rare, but it's available.
mrmondo 10y ago
FYI - HFS is capability of case sensitivity and is an option during formatting. I believe it even used to be the default.
- duskwuff 10y ago
  HFS and HFS+ were never case-sensitive by default on Mac OS. Case-sensitive HFS+ was made available as an option in Mac OS 10.0, but was always glitchy (especially for boot volumes), because many applications depended on case insensitivity.
  - rsynnott 10y ago
    I think possibly the point of confusion is that very early versions of MacOS X (the original MacOS X server, and some of the MacOS X DPs, anyway) used UFS by default, not HFS+. UFS is case sensitive.
  - Tanegashima 10y ago
    I have a case sensitive HFS+ and everything works fine. That was a problem with older versions of Adobe suite, but since lots of people on Macs used Adobe Apps...
    - TheAceOfHearts 10y ago
      Isn't the problem still present? A few months back I tried installing the latest version of Photoshop and Illustrator, and it didn't let me.
  - masklinn 10y ago
    > was always glitchy (especially for boot volumes), because many applications depended on case insensitivity. So CS HFS+ is not glitchy, and CS APFS will not magically fix applications with CI dependency.
- TheAceOfHearts 10y ago
  A quick note to any readers... I'd suggest avoiding a case-sensitive HFS+ boot volume with macOS. I used one for over a year, and it just brings trouble. The biggest problems I encountered were (1) occasional bugs with Homebrew formulas, and (2) Adobe's applications cannot be installed on a case-sensitive file system.
KKKKkkkk1 10y ago
What about snapshots? Does APFS offer efficient user-created snapshots? I run Ubuntu with btrfs, and for me this is a killer feature.
- karlshea 10y ago
  > Does APFS offer efficient user-created snapshots? Yes: https://arstechnica.com/apple/2017/02/testing-out-snapshots-in-apples-next-generation-apfs-file-system/ https://arstechnica.com/apple/2017/02/testing-out-snapshots-... I'm hoping it will make Time Machine a lot better.
trasz 10y ago
FWIW, HFS+ fully supported NFSv4 ACLs since... no idea, but they were already there in 2008.

by sargun 10y ago

yjftsjthsd-h 10y ago

Isn't there a flag to make hfs case sensitive? Programs react poorly because it's rare, but it's available.

mrmondo 10y ago

FYI - HFS is capability of case sensitivity and is an option during formatting. I believe it even used to be the default.

duskwuff 10y ago
HFS and HFS+ were never case-sensitive by default on Mac OS. Case-sensitive HFS+ was made available as an option in Mac OS 10.0, but was always glitchy (especially for boot volumes), because many applications depended on case insensitivity.
- rsynnott 10y ago
  I think possibly the point of confusion is that very early versions of MacOS X (the original MacOS X server, and some of the MacOS X DPs, anyway) used UFS by default, not HFS+. UFS is case sensitive.
- Tanegashima 10y ago
  I have a case sensitive HFS+ and everything works fine. That was a problem with older versions of Adobe suite, but since lots of people on Macs used Adobe Apps...
  - TheAceOfHearts 10y ago
    Isn't the problem still present? A few months back I tried installing the latest version of Photoshop and Illustrator, and it didn't let me.
- masklinn 10y ago
  > was always glitchy (especially for boot volumes), because many applications depended on case insensitivity. So CS HFS+ is not glitchy, and CS APFS will not magically fix applications with CI dependency.
TheAceOfHearts 10y ago
A quick note to any readers... I'd suggest avoiding a case-sensitive HFS+ boot volume with macOS. I used one for over a year, and it just brings trouble. The biggest problems I encountered were (1) occasional bugs with Homebrew formulas, and (2) Adobe's applications cannot be installed on a case-sensitive file system.

KKKKkkkk1 10y ago

What about snapshots? Does APFS offer efficient user-created snapshots? I run Ubuntu with btrfs, and for me this is a killer feature.

karlshea 10y ago
> Does APFS offer efficient user-created snapshots? Yes: https://arstechnica.com/apple/2017/02/testing-out-snapshots-in-apples-next-generation-apfs-file-system/ https://arstechnica.com/apple/2017/02/testing-out-snapshots-... I'm hoping it will make Time Machine a lot better.

trasz 10y ago

FWIW, HFS+ fully supported NFSv4 ACLs since... no idea, but they were already there in 2008.