[Bug 1406043] Re: add btrfs instability warning to installation routine

[Karl-Philipp Richter]

Some points:

  * I don't find any statements from official site that btrfs is stable. The btrfs developers leave that to the users anyway (see https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/FAQ#Is_btrfs_stable.3F: The short answer might be outdated, but the long answer applies in general). The _disk format_ is considered stable and future changes are supposed to be backwards compatible<ref>https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page</ref>. For the rest - which makes the user experience - it is "under heavy development"<ref>https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page</ref> which implies possible future instability as well - which makes consideration about the current status obsolete in a way.
  * btrfs recommends a higher level of backups. Backups are recommended for all filesystems, but not as an absolute requirement for usage. The fact that companies use it on production systems<ref>https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Production_Users</ref> might be strongly related to that point - the average Ubuntu user won't have an enterprise grade backup system.
  * All support requests go exclusively through the btrfs mailing list and therefore is less supported by Ubuntu than e.g. ext4. A potential user should be informed about that.

OpenSUSE 13.2 uses btrfs as
default<ref>http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTYzNjA</ref>
without any feedback for the user as well.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1406043

Title:
  add btrfs instability warning to installation routine

Status in ubiquity package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  The Ubuntu installer (e.g. in live session) offers to format partition
  with btrfs, setup mount points and even install on it. Regarding the
  still unstable state of btrfs, especially with kernels of the current
  latest version (14.10 with 3.16.x) and the latest LTS (14.04 with
  3.13.x), the user has to be warned when any action involving btrfs
  take place during installation. The probability that he_she has read
  something regarding the great performance of btrfs without a hint
  about its instability is much too high in relation to the cost of
  putting such a warning in place.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: ubuntu-desktop 1.325
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-43.72-generic 3.13.11.11
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-43-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.6
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: Unity
  Date: Sun Dec 28 03:38:29 2014
  EcryptfsInUse: Yes
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-12-28 (0 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2)
  SourcePackage: ubuntu-meta
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-12-28 (0 days ago)

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