Package: hfsprogs (332.25-5)

mkfs and fsck for HFS and HFS+ file systems

The HFS+ file system used by Apple Computer for their Mac OS is supported by the Linux kernel. Apple provides mkfs and fsck for HFS+ with the Unix core of their operating system, Darwin.

This package is a port of Apple's tools for HFS+ filesystems.

For users, HFS+ seems to be a good compromise to carry files between MacOS X and Linux Machines, as HFS+ doesn't suffer the problems of FAT32 like:

 * huge space waste (in slack space as devices grow faster);
 * ability to create files that are more than 4GB in size (especially
   good for those working with multimedia and that need to carry large
   ISO files);
 * ability to use case preserving (and even sensitivity!);
 * ability to use uid's and gid's on the filesystem.

Users in general can enjoy such benefits since it is expected to have more HFS+ filesystems in use, as Apple has announced Macintoshes for ix86-64, besides the filesystem being already supported by PowerPC systems since the beginning.

Tags: System Administration: Filesystem Tool, Data Recovery, Hardware Enablement: Storage, Implemented in: C, User Interface: Command Line, Role: Program, Scope: Utility, Purpose: Checking, Storing, Works with: Files