Berkeley Fast File System (FFS)
Ranked 3 of 3 file systems by recommenders
Long-standing OpenBSD filesystem that many find reliable in daily use. Main caveat: it lacks journaling, which critics call outdated, and some report corruption.
Long-standing OpenBSD filesystem that many find reliable in daily use. Main caveat: it lacks journaling, which critics call outdated, and some report corruption.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 63%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Reliable in daily use
“FFS has so far never gone corrupt on me.”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “GEFS on OpenBSD: A Early Preview” “it has been fully reliable for me”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “GEFS on OpenBSD: A Early Preview” “ffs has never really let me down”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Why use OpenBSD?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
No journaling, considered outdated
“OpenBSD's pre-journaling FFS is ancient and creaky but also extremely robust”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Moving from OpenBSD to FreeBSD for firewalls” “The lack of at least a journaling FS is inexcusable in a modern OS.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Moving from OpenBSD to FreeBSD for firewalls” Reports of data corruption
“it will be more reliable than FFS, for sure”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “GEFS on OpenBSD: A Early Preview” “FFS corrupted multiple times on me”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “GEFS on OpenBSD: A Early Preview”
Other file systems people recommend
The two most recommended other file systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 3 file systems, rankedWhat people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it has been fully reliable for me”
“FFS corrupted multiple times on me”
“FFS has so far never gone corrupt on me.”
“it will be more reliable than FFS, for sure”
“People may argue that zfs of xfs or jfs or ffs is better than ext4, but are they gunna jump in and fix it for free”
“The lack of at least a journaling FS is inexcusable in a modern OS.”
“OpenBSD's pre-journaling FFS is ancient and creaky but also extremely robust”
“ffs has never really let me down”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.