LTFS and ugly ducklings
If it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck and swims like a duck then it's a duck, and not a swan. So what is LTFS?
LTFS is a way of providing file:folder type access to files on tape using drag and drop operations. You are no longer forced to use a backup application or equivalent software to move files to and from tape and so, the story goes, an obstacle to wider tape usage is removed.
My query is; how much of an obstacle is it? If I, as a user, have file:folder access both to an external disk and to a tape drive; on which device will I store my files? It will be disk, natch, because access is faster and there will be a backup, probably also on disk, in case disk numero uno goes tits up. Tape is still tape, still slow compared to disk, even inside an LTFS wrapper.
If the company I work for already has a tape system and it implements LTFS then yes, I could use the tape but why would I want to do that? If I was forced too then, fine, reluctantly I'd use the damn thing, but sneak in USB sticks to make life easier where I could.
There's a rumour that one large tape system-supplying vendor has not one LTFS-using customer in Europe. It wouldn't be surprising. For everyday access to files, putting LTFS access on tape in a disk-using world, is like putting lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig.
Am I right or am I being a dickhead about this and missing a point or points?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
