Many people wrote: 1. NTFS is hard/impossible to implement. Undocumented and therefor can/should not be used with ReactOS. 2. ext2/ex3 not good enough for the Windows-NT API, for security, streams, and other support.
I would like to please refute both!
1. NTFS is already fully supported in ReactOS! By Microsoft. As shown by the Captive project. (You did merge back the Captive project Cache manager and file system stuff right?) If ReactOS is to support WinNT device drivers than that means, File-System device drivers as well. Native Knoppix has Captive by default and you can ask my friends of how happy they are for the stuff I saved them from a Bad and crushed XP HD. OK so it is not Implemented yet, but it is 85% and it could be if someone wants to merge Captive subsystems.
2. I have not been to Wineconf-2005, but from the summery what I could see is that one of the key notes was the Samba team. Now ReactOS is going to use Samba right? Or are you going to do your own Windows-for-Workgroups Implementation? Well Samba4 has all these things missing from ext2/ext3, implemented on top, has an extra layer. They call it VNTFS. By use of Samba you will get that for free. Wine is going to use samba to replicate all the needed Win32 API(s). Now in order for ReactOS to use Samba it will need it's POSIX layer pretty polished up.
In summery what I think should be is: A new installation, out of the box, installs ext3 with the Samba VNTFS layers and every thing is happy and free. A user that wants to dual boot or Replace but not loose his/her Windows NTFS HD, will be prompt for the Windows system directory, the NTFS drivers, which are legally his (Hence the existence of the NTFS partition), are copied and happily used by ReactOS. ReactOS does not Create new NTFS partitions but other wise supports them to the letter, by running MS drivers and utilities. It must do that to be true to its goal, as stated on the front page: Run any Windows application and any Windows-NT device driver. Including those from MS, as legally owned by the user. For any other free use of ReactOS the native FS is ext2/3 with Samba VNTFS extensions.
As somewhat of an outsider lurking in the shadows I can tell you guys one thing. ReactOS as a little bit of tendency to the: “Not invented here”. I think that would not compete well with MS's eat all you can, extend and conquer.
Free Life Boaz