[RFC] Remove NTFS kernel support

[Eric Anderson]

Attilio Rao wrote:
> As exposed by several users, NTFS seems to be broken even before first
> VFS commits happeing around the end of December. Those commits exposed
> some problems about NTFS which are currently under investigation.
> Ultimately, This filesystem is also unmaintained at the moment.
> 
> Speaking with jeff, we agreed on what can be a possible compromise:
> remove the kernel support for NTFS and maybe take care of the FUSE
> implementation.
> What I now propose is a small survey which can shade a light on us
> about what do you think about this idea and its implications:
> - Do you use NTFS?

Yes, however not often, but when I do use it, I need it in the base OS 
really.

> - Are you interested in maintaining it?

Possibly.  I would really need to look into it a bit more.

> - Do you know a good reason to not use FUSE ntfs implementation? What
> the kernel counter part adds?

FUSE is slow, requires a port (unless PUFFS is ported, which I've probed 
about before).

> - Do you think axing the kernel support a good idea?


I think Alfred's point is really interesting.  How many people that 
don't use it that say 'axe it' does it take to override 1 person saying 
'keep it!'?

Personally, I much prefer having it in the base.

Eric