If you want case insensitivity at all, the filesystem is the wrong layer at which to implement it. If instead you implemented it at much higher level in userspa

If you want case insensitivity at all, the filesystem is the wrong layer at which to implement it. If instead you implemented it at much higher level in userspace then it would avoid a lot of complexity in the kernel and also result in a more useful feature for users. I primarily use a Mac, and I don't think I've ever taken advantage of the case insensitivity. The only time I open files is by choosing them graphically or by tab-completing their names in my terminal or my editor. The fact that case insensitivity is implemented at the filesystem layer rather than higher up means that my shell is still case sensitive, so I can't type "m<tab>" to autocomplete "Makefile" -- I have to type "M<tab>" instead. Things like Spotlight or my IDE, on the other hand, implement their own case-insensitive filename search that works fine regardless of whether the underlying filesystem is case-insensitive or not.