Practical Linux

Choosing a File System

When you add a hard drive to your system and want to use Linux and DOS or Windows, use the ext2 and msdos or vfat file systems. Although you can use the msdos file system for a DOS partition, you should use the vfat file system for a Windows 95 partition so you can use larger partitions and get long-filename support. If you mount a vfat partition under a Linux directory, the ls command shows the proper long filenames like this:

 # ls /mnt/dos/windows/*.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Black Thatch.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Pinstripe.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Blue Rivets.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Red Blocks.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Bubbles.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Sandstone.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Carved Stone.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Setup.bmp /mnt/dos/windows/Circles.bmp ...