OpenBSD Journal

OpenBSD - f2k7 @ Vienna

Contributed by robert on from the fsck dept.

Two days ago f2k7, the OpenBSD Filesystem Hackathon, started in Vienna, Austria. 14 developers from the americas and europe have gathered in a building of the university of Vienna to discuss future directions of filesystem related works and actually start on it. This includes work around ffs2 in order to support partitions and filesystems bigger than 1TB, NFS cleanup, and work on improving the buffer cache.

At this hackathon we also have some visiting developers who work on topics not directly related to filesystems like rthreads, 10Gb drivers and SMP.

This hackathon wouldn't have been possible without the generous help of our users. Many of whom donated money or hardware and some of whom even managed to convince some companys to lend us some nice big servers. In particular I'd like to thank Stephan A. Rickauer of FOSS@UZH, Jean-Gerard Pailloncy, Dalco, Dell, GeNUA, LSI, Mobilkom Austria and Transtec.

(Comments are closed)


Comments
  1. By Didier Wiroth (194.154.200.108) didier.wiroth@mcesr.etat.lu on

    Hello guys,

    Nice to hear the next hackathon is running!
    Please don't forget to post some feedback and pictures about the event!

    Happy hacking !!! ;-))

    Comments
    1. By lesce (86.123.232.20) freekbsd@gmail.com on

      > Hello guys,
      >
      > Nice to hear the next hackathon is running!
      > Please don't forget to post some feedback and pictures about the event!
      >
      > Happy hacking !!! ;-))
      >
      >

      No pictures :( ?

  2. By jb (jb) jb@caustic.org on

    With FreeBSD having just announced initial support for zfs, is there a chance the kernel hooks for it will be created during this FS hackathon? I admit that I've not yet looked at the support or licensing, but I suspect it would be a good thing for OpenBSD to have.

    Comments
    1. By jb (jb) on

      > With FreeBSD having just announced initial support for zfs, is there a chance the kernel hooks for it will be created during this FS hackathon?
      >
      > I admit that I've not yet looked at the support or licensing, but I suspect it would be a good thing for OpenBSD to have.


      Or not. Just looked at FreeBSDs import, and it does have the CDDL license from OpenSolaris. Which makes it mostly incompatible with OpenBSD, I believe.

      Comments
      1. By Brynet (Brynet) on

        > Or not. Just looked at FreeBSDs import, and it does have the CDDL license from OpenSolaris. Which makes it mostly incompatible with OpenBSD, I believe.
        >
        >

        You believe correctly, Unless they implement ZFS entirely under BSD or ISC, You can bet they "won't" add support.

        It's not like it's a big loss either ;-)

    2. By Frank DENIS (82.224.188.215) on http://00f.net

      > With FreeBSD having just announced initial support for zfs, is there a chance the kernel hooks for it will be created during this FS hackathon?
      >
      > I admit that I've not yet looked at the support or licensing, but I suspect it would be a good thing for OpenBSD to have.

      While ZFS has some impressive features, it doesn't mean that every OS should port that code.

      Given the strong background of Matthew Dillon, it would be probably wiser to closely follow the HAMMER / ANVIL filesystem development from DragonFlyBSD. Mat chose that way over ZFS for good reasons. And it will be BSD-licensed.

      Comments
      1. By Anonymous Coward (74.14.156.70) on

        But it will likely require a lot of random shite from DragonFly if one were to get it working on another system.

        Comments
        1. By Frank DENIS (82.224.188.215) on http://00f.net

          > But it will likely require a lot of random shite from DragonFly if one were to get it working on another system.

          Yes, DragonFlyBSD has now a very clean VFS layer.

          But what's your point? ZFS has been designed for Solaris and relies upon a lot of "random shite" from Solaris.

          Comments
          1. By Anonymous Coward (87.194.34.157) on

            > > But it will likely require a lot of random shite from DragonFly if one were to get it working on another system.
            >
            > Yes, DragonFlyBSD has now a very clean VFS layer.
            >
            > But what's your point? ZFS has been designed for Solaris and relies upon a lot of "random shite" from Solaris.


            bit off topic but its good to see your site back online frank... hard drives suck ;(

      2. By jb (198.144.208.49) on


        > While ZFS has some impressive features, it doesn't mean that every OS should port that code.

        Agreed, but when re-inventing the wheel, it's good to have a basis to start from. Granted, the license issues won't permit it to be pulled in.

        > Given the strong background of Matthew Dillon, it would be probably wiser to closely follow the HAMMER / ANVIL filesystem development from DragonFlyBSD. Mat chose that way over ZFS for good reasons. And it will be BSD-licensed.

        I can't seem to find much on it outside of some slightly cryptic email threads.

        Got some resources or similar where I can read up on it?

  3. By e (62.178.6.170) on

    Is there some way to get in touch with the people attending f2k7 (when they are doing something else than working... perhaps)?
    I live in Vienna and I'm merely a OpenBSD user, but this sounds interesting.
    I have to admit that I have no idea how a hackathon usually works...

    Comments
    1. By phessler (209.204.157.105) on

      > Is there some way to get in touch with the people attending f2k7 (when they are doing something else than working... perhaps)?
      > I live in Vienna and I'm merely a OpenBSD user, but this sounds interesting.
      > I have to admit that I have no idea how a hackathon usually works...

      the hackathon usually goes like this: wake up from drunken stupor, stagger into the code room, start writing code. someone swears loudly, people go over to investigate, questions are asked, ideas are had. more code is written. more questions, more comments, more retorts, more ideas. someone yells about who chose the music. more code too. break time for food. ideas comments and questions abound during food. after food: more code. someone realizes the bar is open, so drink time. beer + developers = ideas about code. swearing about vendors that lie in white papers. stagger back to bed, sleep it off. wake up from drunken stupor, stagger back into the code room, start writing code....


      you get the idea. its very intense, and people are generally working on stuff the entire time.

      Comments
      1. By Miod Vallat (miod) on

        I would like to point out that most developers drink to reasonable levels, since brains tend to malfunction when inebriated, which does not help quality.

        Comments
        1. By Anonymous Coward (80.98.146.141) on

          > I would like to point out that most developers drink to reasonable levels, since brains tend to malfunction when inebriated, which does not help quality.

          liar :)

          Comments
          1. By Anonymous Coward (149.135.82.100) on

            > > I would like to point out that most developers drink to reasonable levels, since brains tend to malfunction when inebriated, which does not help quality.
            >
            > liar :)

            lol "wake up from drunken stupor, stagger into the code room" -phessler
            "wake up from drunken stupor, stagger back into the code room, start writing code"

            no wonder the hackathon releases are of such high quality :)

        2. By art (128.131.95.19) on

          Yes, please remember to drink responsibly.

          Comments
          1. By Miod Vallat (miod) on

            > Yes, please remember to drink responsibly.

            Don't drink and commit - commit first, break the tree, get drunk, don't fix it until you're hungover.

            Comments
            1. By Anonymous Coward (128.131.95.19) on

              > > Yes, please remember to drink responsibly.
              >
              > Don't drink and commit - commit first, break the tree, get drunk, don't fix it until you're hungover.

              then it does not hurt as much...

          2. By Janne Johansson (jj) on .

            > Yes, please remember to drink responsibly.

            Yes, we don't want the buffer cash go down the drain. ;)

        3. By mk (130.225.194.192) on

          > I would like to point out that most developers drink to reasonable levels, since brains tend to malfunction when inebriated, which does not help quality.

          It harms quality and, occasionally, leads to burning of hands.

          Comments
          1. By Anonymous Coward (192.16.134.66) on

            > > I would like to point out that most developers drink to reasonable levels, since brains tend to malfunction when inebriated, which does not help quality.
            >
            > It harms quality and, occasionally, leads to burning of hands.

            I can second that, got me a 350$ hospital bill last time I visited Austin, TX.

    2. By Martin Reindl (martin) martin@ on

      > Is there some way to get in touch with the people attending f2k7 (when they are doing something else than working... perhaps)?
      > I live in Vienna and I'm merely a OpenBSD user, but this sounds interesting.
      > I have to admit that I have no idea how a hackathon usually works...

      Are you in possession of 50-pin (narrow) SCSI drives of 2GB and more?

      Comments
      1. By e (62.178.6.170) on

        > > Is there some way to get in touch with the people attending f2k7 (when they are doing something else than working... perhaps)?
        > > I live in Vienna and I'm merely a OpenBSD user, but this sounds interesting.
        > > I have to admit that I have no idea how a hackathon usually works...
        >
        > Are you in possession of 50-pin (narrow) SCSI drives of 2GB and more?

        I'm afraid I'm not...
        But thanks to the others who explained the concept of hackathon to me. I expected something quite like this, but with some additional relaxation time inbetween ;) (after all you're in Vienna^^).

        Comments
        1. By Anonymous Coward (128.131.95.19) on

          > but with some additional relaxation time inbetween ;) (after all you're in Vienna^^).

          yeah. wien is the katechese of the universe and the rest of the world
          is a one huge boring blob...

  4. By Anonymous Coward (24.201.102.185) on

    rthreads, woohoo!!

  5. By Anonymous Coward (24.37.242.64) on

    Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?

    Personally, I would love to see other places like Vienna and the other places these hackathons have been held at, but I'm just simply curious.

    What about long distance Video/Audio conference equipment, is that an option for other 'mini-hackathons' too?

    Comments
    1. By Brynet (Brynet) on

      > Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?
      >
      > Personally, I would love to see other places like Vienna and the other places these hackathons have been held at, but I'm just simply curious.
      >
      > What about long distance Video/Audio conference equipment, is that an option for other 'mini-hackathons' too?

      I myself hate the fact the hackathons are never local... But maybe they could at least offer audio/video of such events.

      I'd love to hear the developers talking amongst themselves, about coding.. beer.. etc.

      Pretty pretty please?

      :D

      Comments
      1. By Miod Vallat (miod) on

        > I'd love to hear the developers talking amongst themselves, about coding.. beer.. etc.

        Hackathons are not press conferences. People are here to get things done.


        Comments
        1. By Brynet (Brynet) on

          > Hackathons are not press conferences. People are here to get things done.
          >
          Alright, take it easy.. It's just that some people who donate might be interested in such things.

          Franky, I find you quite rude.. :-(

          Comments
          1. By Anonymous Coward (128.131.95.19) on

            >
            > Franky, I find you quite rude.. :-(

            Miod is never rude.

            -T.

            Comments
            1. By Motley Fool (MotleyFool) on

              > >
              > > Franky, I find you quite rude.. :-(
              >
              > Miod is never rude.
              >
              > -T.
              >

              He does like frog legs though, Henning told me that once.

              Comments
              1. By Miod Vallat (miod) on

                > He does like frog legs though, Henning told me that once.
                >
                Ah, but you seem to assume Henning knows what he's talking about.

                Fact is, I have never eaten frogs in my life. I like snails, but I have never tried frogs so far.

                Comments
                1. By Motley Fool (MotleyFool) on

                  > > He does like frog legs though, Henning told me that once.
                  > >
                  > Ah, but you seem to assume Henning knows what he's talking about.
                  >
                  > Fact is, I have never eaten frogs in my life. I like snails, but I have never tried frogs so far.

                  Ahhhh, perhaps it was a coffee / beer discussion we were having, it's so loooooooooong ago I can barely remember. Did you ever do anything with the "Krups" or was that a "Mr. Coffee"? I hate getting older.

          2. By lesce (86.123.232.20) freekbsd@gmail.com on

            > > Hackathons are not press conferences. People are here to get things done.
            > >
            > Alright, take it easy.. It's just that some people who donate might be interested in such things.
            >
            > Franky, I find you quite rude.. :-(

            People who donate shouldn't expect to get "special" things for there money other than the openbsd/openssh "products"
            it's a donation not an investment !

            Comments
            1. By Shane J Pearson (203.20.79.132) on

              > > Alright, take it easy.. It's just that some people who donate might be interested in such things.
              > >
              > > Franky, I find you quite rude.. :-(
              >
              > People who donate shouldn't expect to get "special" things for there money other than the openbsd/openssh "products"
              > it's a donation not an investment !

              Yeah, donations with strings are not donations.

          3. By Miod Vallat (miod) on

            > Franky, I find you quite rude.. :-(

            I am sorry if I sound rude. But we developers like being able to work without being distracted by unexpected events or people we don't know.

            There is nothing wrong with having beers or whatever with OpenBSD users when you happen to be visiting their city, but hacking events are intended to be private. (And I can discuss this further around a beer if you'd like to (-: )

            Comments
            1. By Anonymous Coward (149.135.82.100) on

              > > Franky, I find you quite rude.. :-(
              >
              > I am sorry if I sound rude. But we developers like being able to work without being distracted by unexpected events or people we don't know.
              >
              > There is nothing wrong with having beers or whatever with OpenBSD users when you happen to be visiting their city, but hacking events are intended to be private. (And I can discuss this further around a beer if you'd like to (-: )



              "but hacking events are intended to be private...." so you can't see how drunk we get :)

      2. By Anonymous Coward (128.131.95.19) on

        > I'd love to hear the developers talking amongst themselves, about coding.. beer.. etc.

        i have an awesome financing idea!
        how about we install webcams in the bathrooms in the hotel rooms
        where developers live during the event? this will sure produce
        tons of cash!

        Comments
        1. By Miod Vallat (miod) on

          > how about we install webcams in the bathrooms in the hotel rooms
          > where developers live during the event? this will sure produce
          > tons of cash!

          You're maybe expecting too much personal hygiene from the developers (-:

          Comments
          1. By Anonymous Coward (24.107.47.20) on

            > > how about we install webcams in the bathrooms in the hotel rooms
            > > where developers live during the event? this will sure produce
            > > tons of cash!
            >
            > You're maybe expecting too much personal hygiene from the developers (-:

            Could you maybe explain this personal hygiene thing? I can't figure it out. My research is below:

            $ man personal hygiene
            man: no entry for personal in the manual.
            man: no entry for hygiene in the manual.

            $ man "personal hygiene"
            man: no entry for personal hygiene in the manual.

      3. By Anonymous Coward (193.49.69.235) on

        > I'd love to hear the developers talking amongst themselves, about coding.. beer.. etc.

        Hmm... like a developer tabloid?

    2. By tedu (128.131.95.19) on

      > Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?

      not all the openbsd developers live in canada.

      Comments
      1. By Anonymous Coward (85.19.143.2) on

        > > Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?
        >
        > not all the openbsd developers live in canada.

        and not all canadians are openbsd developers :)

        inductive reasoning hehe

    3. By Miod Vallat (miod) on

      > Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?

      Because noone stepped up to organize such an event, and/or travel to these places would be a pain in the arse.

      > What about long distance Video/Audio conference equipment, is that an option for other 'mini-hackathons' too?

      No way. Developers work much better when they are physically promiscuous. If only because they deserve pats on their backs from time to time.

      Comments
      1. By Anonymous Coward (128.131.95.19) on http://dasinternetistfurpornokino.at/

        > No way. Developers work much better when they are physically promiscuous. If only because they deserve pats on their backs from time to time.


        Promiscious developers? On the Internet?


        Comments
        1. By Anonymous Coward (207.59.237.99) on

          OpenBSD developer seeks same for hot API action.

          Must be discreet.

        2. By Janne Johansson (82.182.176.20) jj@inet6.se on

          > > No way. Developers work much better when they are physically promiscuous. If only because they deserve pats on their backs from time to time.
          >
          > Promiscious developers? On the Internet?

          I thought they were more... "committed" than that.

      2. By Anonymous Coward (149.135.82.100) on

        > > Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?
        >
        > Because noone stepped up to organize such an event, and/or travel to these places would be a pain in the arse.
        >
        > > What about long distance Video/Audio conference equipment, is that an option for other 'mini-hackathons' too?
        >
        > No way. Developers work much better when they are physically promiscuous. If only because they deserve pats on their backs from time to time.

        "Developers work much better when they are physically promiscuous." Hackathon money goes towards hiring them prostitutes for a job well done?

    4. By Anonymous Coward (128.131.95.19) on

      > Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?

      sorry. we have forgotten about where you live.
      will never happen again.

    5. By Lars Hansson (203.65.245.11) lars@unet.net.ph on

      > Why are most of the hackathons in countries other than Canada (where Theo is)? Why not more local like Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, etc?

      That's only local if you're canadian and as you might be aware most of earths population isnt. I'd love a local hackathon too; when's the next one in Manila?

      Comments
      1. By jb (jb) on


        > That's only local if you're canadian and as you might be aware most of earths population isnt. I'd love a local hackathon too; when's the next one in Manila?
        >

        Not sure. Put one together, and maybe people will show.

        MMmmmmm beer.

  6. By Travers Buda (128.255.167.160) on

    From all the users: thank you sponsors!

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