FLOP:SquashFS sync

Created on

2015/02/27

Original Author(s)

Mgorny

Status

Reference Bug

FL-2138

Funtoo Linux Optimization Proposal: SquashFS sync

An alternate syncing method using SquashFS Images and deltas. Meant for stable systems where frequent updates aren't necessary, offering reduced bandwidth and disk space use, and improved speed.

Problems with the current syncing method

Currently the official syncing method for Funtoo systems is git. While it's quite good, it has a few downsides:

• it places a lot of small files on the underlying filesystem — usually requiring a dedicated, small file-efficient filesystem,
• the git metadata increases disk space use even further, especially after multiple syncs,
• rare syncs imply transferring intermediate changes that may no longer be useful to end user.

While this is acceptable for hackers, it may be undesired for stable systems that are updated rather rarely and should be easy to set up.