[Discuss] SSH options (was Future of X11 (was Trying to connect to internet in Debian))

[markw at mohawksoft.com (markw at mohawksoft.com)]

> On Tue, 20 Jan 2026 14:05:10 -0800
> Ron <ron at bclug.ca> wrote:
>
>> A DB makes most sense for email messages - index-able, ACID
>> compliance (depending on DB), fast, etc.
>
> Databases are the WORST possible way to store arbitrary files.
> Microsoft tried to make a database-backed filesystem. They tried very
> hard. They failed so badly at it they abandoned WinFS. And they had
> previously built Microsoft Exchange on databases anyway. They didn't do
> it because it was a good idea (it isn't). They did it because NTFS was
> *worse*. NTFS is notoriously rubbish with large numbers of small files.
> Throwing all of it into a MS SQL Server database was an "easy" way to
> get acceptable performance.

As a blast from the past, it is a shame that ReiserFS was abandoned, for
obvious reasons, it was a great file system for many small files. It is
the perfect file system for a mail server.

A database makes sense for the indexing and organization of email, but
storage for the files itself makes no sense. That being said, MAYBE, just
maybe, SQLite could do it.
>
>
>> when a message is marked "Read", the *file name* is changed to
>> reflect the change in status!
>
> It's efficient, consuming one byte of RAM when referenced and zero RAM
> when not, and consuming zero space on the filesystem depending on how it
> stores metadata. It's fast, faster than any database could ever hope to
> be on the same filesystem. It's Atomic and Consistent, and it's as
> Isolated and Durable as anything on the filesystem can possibly be.
> ACID without any of the overhead of running a database server. It's
> brilliant in its simplicity.
>
>
>> Designed to be *fast* at up-to a couple hundred terabytes.
>
> Designed to compete with Microsoft Exchange on Windows, more like.
> Stalwart runs on Windows which means it needs to perform acceptably on
> NTFS, and the "easy" way to do that is throw it all in a big ol'
> database.
>
> --
> \m/ (--) \m/
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