
Filesystem mounts in user namespaces - vezzy-fnord
https://lwn.net/Articles/652468/
======
angersock
Those who don't run Plan 9 are doomed to re-implement it.

Poorly.

[http://doc.cat-v.org/plan_9/misc/ubiquitous_fileserver/ubiqu...](http://doc.cat-v.org/plan_9/misc/ubiquitous_fileserver/ubiquitous_fileserver.pdf)

~~~
vezzy-fnord
Actually, I think the chief initial architect of Linux namespaces (and bind
mounts) was Al Viro [1], an ex-Plan 9 developer. So he's well aware of that,
but evidently a poor concession is better than nothing at all.

[1] Citation: [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-mount-
namespaces...](http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-mount-namespaces/)

~~~
angersock
Good to know!

I've spent the weekend reading Plan 9 papers, and it's just all such a shame.
They tried to save us!

~~~
vezzy-fnord
Yep, that's why Al Viro is such an abrasive yet highly entertaining grump. He
makes Linus Torvalds look like a sensitivity training counselor in comparison,
but his argumentative style is great (query "site:lwn.net al viro udev" for a
fun way to waste some time). A veteran Linux kernel hacker who hates udev and
cgroups. Yep.

~~~
e12e
Do you know if he's back on the lists/development in full force? Looks like he
had some very serious medical issues last year:

[http://lwn.net/Articles/439635/](http://lwn.net/Articles/439635/)

------
viraptor
Are there any (still maintained) microkernel systems which do unprivileged
user mounts? I know Minix3 at least has filesystem services, but I'm not sure
if it goes as far as allowing someone to build (for example) sshfs that allows
mounts in /home/...

~~~
vezzy-fnord
GNU Hurd.

~~~
e12e
Just in case someone thinks this was a joke (maybe it was! :-) -- there are
few people trying hard to actually make Hurd work in some meaningful sense of
the word, see eg:

[https://lists.debian.org/debian-
hurd/2015/04/msg00047.html](https://lists.debian.org/debian-
hurd/2015/04/msg00047.html)

~~~
viraptor
I don't think it was a joke. If people are interested in checking this out,
the Hurd name for this functionality is "translators". And it seems to do what
I expected.

~~~
vezzy-fnord
Indeed, it was no joke.

