Apple drops ZFS project

Posted on 26 Oct 2009 at 12:38

Apple has abandoned a plans to provide Mac OS X with a new file system for storing data on hard drives and other media.

The company has been working for some time on providing Sun Microsystem’s ZFS as an alternative to—or possible replacement for—own HFS+.

But last weekend it brought an abrupt end to the project, with a terse note on Mac OS forge: “The ZFS project has been discontinued. The mailing list and repository will also be removed shortly.”

Jeff Bonwick, who led the development of ZFS, said that Apple and Sun were unable to reach an agreement on licensing terms.

“It my be that [Apple] wanted a ‘private license’ from Sun (with appropriate technical support and indemnification), and the two entities couldn't come to mutually agreeable terms,” he said. “I cannot disclose details, but that is the essence of it.”

Author: Simon Aughton

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