{"id":175064,"date":"2025-06-28T20:19:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T20:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/?p=175064"},"modified":"2025-06-28T20:56:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T20:56:49","slug":"torvalds-drops-bcachefs-from-linux-6-17-amid-maintainer-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/torvalds-drops-bcachefs-from-linux-6-17-amid-maintainer-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Torvalds Drops Bcachefs from Linux 6.17 Amid Maintainer Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bcachefs<\/a> is a promising copy\u2011on\u2011write Linux filesystem that supports encryption, snapshots, compression, and more. It is seen as a modern rival to Btrfs and ZFS and was initially merged into kernel 6.7, but was always tagged as experimental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, getting it into the kernel hasn\u2019t exactly been smooth sailing. Over time, it became clear there were stability issues, with frequent bugfixes and conflicting commits. It even got to the point where Linus openly admitted<\/a>, midway through last year, that he regretted ever allowing support for the file system to be added to the kernel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the ongoing disagreements between Bcachefs lead developer Kent Overstreet and Linus Torvalds have recently escalated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clash stems from a long\u2011standing debate on kernel rhythm: Linus enforces strict release-cycle discipline, allowing only minimal fixes during release candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Kent submitted substantive changes (a patch implementing the new \u201cjournal_rewind\u201d feature, which lets the entire filesystem be reset to an earlier point in time) justified by urgent data-recovery needs, though they landed late in the cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, Linus Torvalds pulled the Bcachefs patch planned for 6.16\u2011rc3, notifying that it wouldn\u2019t be included in the 6.17 merge window. He explained<\/a> that Overstreet had made it \u201cvery clear<\/em>\u201d Linus couldn\u2019t even question bug\u2011fixes, triggering Linus to step away: \u201cwe’re done<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I have pulled this, but also as per that discussion, I think we’ll be parting ways in the 6.17 merge window. You made it very clear that I can’t even question any bug-fixes and I should just pull anything and everything. Honestly, at that point, I don’t really feel comfortable being involved at all, and the only thing we both seemed to really fundamentally agree on in that discussion was “we’re done”.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In response<\/a>, Kent Overstreet emphasized his focus on ensuring user data integrity, claiming he couldn\u2019t defer certain fixes and needed Linus to \u201ctone it down<\/em>,\u201d not to weaponize PRs, by beginning his answer with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Linus, I’m not trying to say you can’t have any say in bcachefs. Not at all. I positively enjoy working with you – when you’re not being a d***, but you can be genuinely impossible sometimes. A lot of times\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well, as we\u2019ve seen, things can get pretty heated on the kernel mailing list, and let\u2019s be honest\u2014Linus isn\u2019t exactly known for his tact when rules get broken. But in this case, Overstreet also stepped over the line of what most would consider good taste. So, what does all this lead to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Bcachefs removed from 6.17, it will no longer receive automatic upstream integration, affecting its availability and stability in mainstream distributions. Users dependent on Bcachefs will likely need to use out\u2011of\u2011tree builds or pursue alternative filesystems unless Kent and Linus reconcile before the 6.18 merge window.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disagreements over late-stage fixes and developer conduct led Linus Torvalds to drop Bcachefs from the upcoming Linux kernel 6.17 release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":175067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[5505,40,2122],"class_list":["post-175064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software","category-news","tag-bcachefs","tag-kernel","tag-linus-torvalds"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}