questions re: usb drive. fat32, linux file system

[Ralf Mardorf]

Hi,

as other already pointed out, ownership and permissions aren't saved
and it's no Windows conspiracy or regarding users uninterested in Linux
that fat32 is an often used default. However, using the term "backup"
for files copied on an USB stick is a fatal mistake. This kind of media
is not safe.

If you want to preserve Linux permissions on a fat32 partitioned media,
don't "cp -a" files, instead create an archive using "tar --xattrs
-czf" (not necessarily with the "z" option, this is just an example).

If you run

  touch /tmp/test
  sudo touch /tmp/test_2

to create new empty files on your Linux partition, they automatically
get permissions with different ownerships. If you copy a file without
permissions, the same underlying mechanism creates permissions.

Note, your questions are better answered, if you learn more about
Linux and other file systems, actually "discovering Linux" and to
benefit from it's advantages and being aware of disadvantages, requires
some basic understanding, let alone that what could be an advantage for
some kind of usage, could be a disadvantage for another kind of usage.

For portability fat32 is a very good choice.

Another example, if you want to be able to easily _really_ delete data
from a HDD, the "shred" command is a useful tool, assuming you are using
a file system that allows "shred" to wipe out the data. The kind of
media also is a factor to consider when using "shred".

Regards,
Ralf

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Votes: 70                         Updated: Tue Jun 20 08:02:36 CEST 2017


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