> had rich data-structured storage systems Don't know about VMS, but I've used "data-structured systems": old macs with resources forks, and Symbian with its d

> had rich data-structured storage systems Don't know about VMS, but I've used "data-structured systems": old macs with resources forks, and Symbian with its databases. Thank god they are gone. I don't want to have to learn special archival tool just for one system. I want to be able to take any data file, and back it up, make a copy, send to a different system, encrypt, archive, checksum, rename, delete, compare... If you want database instead of a file, there are plenty! A sqlite library running over POSIX kernel is superior to sqlite-like database in kernel, especially in terms of compatibility and features. Your "record level locking" is already possible, it's called "a database" and it is fine with POSIX.