[Feature Request] exfat filesystem support

Bug #1641104 reported by aaronfranke
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
GParted
Won't Fix
Wishlist
gparted (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Gparted already runs `mkfs.filesystemnamehere` for many of the file system types (all? not sure). Gparted could simply add this functionality by issuing the same commands but with `mkfs.exfat` instead. Do the same for all other functionality of exfat.

One thing worth noting is that `exfat-utils` would have to be added as a dependency of Gparted.

Changed in gparted:
importance: Unknown → Wishlist
status: Unknown → Won't Fix
Revision history for this message
dino99 (9d9) wrote :

Gparted can already detect/move/copy exfat partition. But exfat has been licenced by MS, so it cant be included into a free tool. (see Debian report discussion)

http://gparted.org/features.php

As this request is out of free software, that report is closed, like Debian's one has been too.

Changed in gparted (Ubuntu):
status: New → Invalid
Revision history for this message
Jan Claeys (janc) wrote :

Actually, exfat-utils is available in Debian & Ubuntu now, so maybe that upstream bug can be reconsidered.

Changed in gparted (Ubuntu):
status: Invalid → New
Revision history for this message
dino99 (9d9) wrote :

@Jan
that wont happen due to Microsoft licence (read the Debian report comments)

Changed in gparted (Ubuntu):
status: New → Invalid
Revision history for this message
aaronfranke (arnfranke) wrote :

From that bug:

"I believe you are correct. Licensing is not an issue for the GParted application because GParted would simply call external exFAT tools. I do not think a simple call to an external tool constitutes a violation of the licensing agreement.

However, this would not be the case with the GParted Live CD image. GParted Live includes all the necessary software to use all of the features of GParted. Due to licensing constraints, we would not be able to include exFAT tools in the image (i.e., without having paid for the appropriate license). ;-("

So, it appears that the functionality is able to be included into Gparted without licensing issues, but that it isn't included due to maintaining consistency with Gparted Live. Additionally:

"If all of the major GNU/Linux distributions were distributing the ability to create exFAT file systems, then I would consider doing the same with GParted and GParted Live."

As Jan has pointed out: "It seems like exfat-utils is included in Debian, Ubuntu, Arch Linux and probably other distros currently, so I think it would make sense now to support exFAT when these are available?"

So, therefore, exfat-utils is indeed available in other distros, not *all* of the major ones yet (most notably RedHat/Fedora), but a considerable amount of them.

I think slapping on a "won't fix" is therefore premature, and we should await the response of the Debian and Gparted developers on that bug.

Revision history for this message
Curtis Gedak (gedakc) wrote :

Unless the exFAT licensing issue has changed, the position stated in comment number 14 of the upstream report remains. See:

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=639760#c14

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