file-systems as databases

[bob at sinister.com (Bob Keyes)]

On Wed, 2 Oct 2002, Andy Davidoff wrote:

> Many people don't realize you can do this[0]:
> 	$ ln -s "some short value" key
> 	$ readlink key
> 	some short value

I do!

> This is nice because it forces key/value pairs to conform to a more
> rigid interface and therefor simplifies the back-end significantly.
>
> It's also possible (though not necessarily recommended!) to make
> hard-links to directories, which lets you create equivalent (and
> alternate) views into the same file-system.
>
> Anyone else use file-systems for perverse purposes?[1]  Such as what?

FreeBSD ports system basically does this. I don't think it's such a great
idea. On smaller drives, I have run out of inodes just trying to untar it!