What is the difference between a file system and a database? From my point of view a file system is just a specific kind of database (Hierarchical key value).
Then we put other kinds of databases on top of the file system database. Funny isn't it?
If the file system where a complete enough database we might not need things like SQLite which purports itself as a replacement for fopen, hmm, full circle.
Of course we have barely figured out how to encode text, maybe one day we will know how to store and retrieve data flexibly and consistently, one day long from now.
I personally like the relational model the best, it would be interesting to see a OS and files system based on the relational model rather than the hierarchical, but what do I know.
The nice thing about computers (Turing Machines) is that they let us simulate anything, including having better[1] computers (that may just run a little slower). The big idea behind turning the file system into a "database" is that you would be able to simulate any kind of file system you wanted, including better ones. This is basically what RDBMSs like SQL Server and SQLite do.
I also like the relational model the best, but it's just one of the many available simulations of "betterness".
[1] Where "better" means: easier to program, or more reliable, or has infinite memory (garbage collection), or is easier to use, or...
> What is the difference between a file system and a database?
An additional index, support for separate/extended file streams and a query language - all implemented in the (kernel mode) filesystem driver (like NTFS-Cairo and BeFS).
Then we put other kinds of databases on top of the file system database. Funny isn't it?
If the file system where a complete enough database we might not need things like SQLite which purports itself as a replacement for fopen, hmm, full circle.
Of course we have barely figured out how to encode text, maybe one day we will know how to store and retrieve data flexibly and consistently, one day long from now.
I personally like the relational model the best, it would be interesting to see a OS and files system based on the relational model rather than the hierarchical, but what do I know.