“Sun funds Linux implementation of impending
standard.”
“At the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in early February, Sun
announced it would double its funding of a University of Michigan
project to develop a Network File system (NFS) implementation for
Linux. NFS versions 2 and 3 had their troubles, and some are
wondering if version 4 will be any different.”
“Depending on whom you ask, the name of the inveterate Network
File System (NFS) might really be Nightmare File System, because of
its poor performance, or No File Security, because of its poor
security. But all that is about to change. With improved
performance, security, interoperability, and Internet access, NFS
version 4 is out to silence the critics for good.”
“… Sun intended to make NFS an Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) standard before the work on NFSv4 was underway, but delays
arose. The specification was recently turned in to the IETF as a
proposed standard, and should become a draft standard by
August.”
“When it becomes a standard, a second reference implementation
will be needed. A Sun-funded University of Michigan project will do
two things: create the necessary second reference implementation,
and improve the Linux implementation of NFS, which, according to
Linux developers, could stand a great deal of improvement.
“NFS on Linux Sun’s funding of the NFS version 4 Open Source
Reference Implementation for Linux should help NFS’s bad
reputation, just as the version 4 specification should improve NFS
itself. However, the Linux community, whose relationship with Sun
can only be described as rocky, has responded to Sun’s recent
announcements with guarded enthusiasm…”