Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel
The deprecation of ReiserFS from the Linux kernel has resurfaced interest in both the filesystem’s technical legacy and the life of its creator, Hans Reiser, who is serving a sentence for murdering his wife. Commenters revisit ReiserFS’s strengths and weaknesses, why it fell out of maintenance and was never succeeded by Reiser4/5 in mainline Linux, and how its ideas influenced other filesystems. Alongside the technical history, many weigh whether someone who committed a calculated killing can ever be meaningfully rehabilitated, and how (or whether) a person’s contributions to software should be separated from their crimes.
Reactions to the Letter & Possibility of Redemption
- Many readers find the letter emotionally heavy, articulate, and technically fascinating, but are unsettled by empathy toward someone who murdered his wife.
- Some see genuine introspection and humility (praise for others’ work, owning past abrasiveness) and think long imprisonment plus aging might make positive change plausible.
- Others read it as crafted for a parole board: heavy emphasis on programs/classes, stock therapeutic language, and careful signaling of remorse without much detail about the victim.
- Several argue that for calculating or psychopathic people, the evidentiary bar for believing change should be much higher, and text alone is not trustworthy.
Nature of the Crime & Character Debate
- Thread revisits case details: disappearance, car-seat removal, crime‑scene manuals, blood evidence, years of lying, hidden body, and eventual plea in exchange for revealing the grave.
- Disagreement over whether the killing was premeditated or a “crime of passion”; the first‑degree conviction vs later second‑degree plea is cited on both sides.
- Some call him likely a psychopath and see his behavior as fundamentally different from “ordinary” people; others push back on essentializing “evil” and argue context and systems matter.
- Broader debate on whether anyone who intentionally kills, especially a spouse and parent, can ever be meaningfully redeemed, and who gets to decide that (family, society, parole board).
Filesystem History and Technical Themes
- ReiserFS v3 is being removed mainly because it is unmaintained, has corruption issues, and isn’t year‑2038 safe; unmaintained filesystems are seen as dangerous.
- Namesys collapsed after the murder; Reiser was the project’s core, so no strong successor emerged. Reiser4/5 lives out‑of‑tree but never made mainline due to technical concerns (e.g., directory hard links, complex semantics).
- Many recall early performance and small‑file advantages, but also data loss and fsck nightmares; most now consider ext4/XFS or CoW filesystems superior.
- Discussion of his broader vision: file systems as queryable databases and “narrow waist” architectures with rich composability; parallels drawn to BeFS, Plan 9 ideas, SQLite, and Metcalfe’s‑law‑style network effects.
Prisons, Internet Access, and Parole
- He is serving 15‑to‑life; first parole was denied, next eligibility cited as 2027. Some think California will likely release him eventually; others hope the board remains cautious.
- Debate over why inmates lack internet: security (gangs, harassment, ongoing crime), punitive goals, and institutional profit vs potential rehabilitative benefits (education, open‑source contributions).
- Broader penology discussion: punishment vs rehabilitation vs incapacitation vs deterrence, with many criticizing US prisons as overly retributive and poor at true rehabilitation.