# Extended file system

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The **extended file system**, or **ext**, was implemented in April 1992 as the first [file system](/source/File_system) created specifically for the [Linux](/source/Linux) kernel. Although ext is not a specific file system name, it has been succeeded by [ext2](/source/Ext2), [ext3](/source/Ext3), and [ext4](/source/Ext4). It has [metadata](/source/Metadata) structure inspired by traditional [Unix File System](/source/Unix_File_System) principles, and was designed by [Rémy Card](/source/R%C3%A9my_Card) to overcome certain limitations of the [MINIX file system](/source/MINIX_file_system).[2][3] It was the first implementation that used the [virtual file system](/source/Virtual_file_system) (VFS), for which support was added in the Linux kernel in version 0.96c, and it could handle file systems up to 2 gigabytes (GB) in size.[3]

ext was the first in the series of extended file systems. In 1993, it was superseded by both [ext2](/source/Ext2) and [Xiafs](/source/Xiafs), which competed for a time, but ext2 won because of its long-term viability: ext2 remedied issues with ext, such as the immutability of [inodes](/source/Inode) and [fragmentation](/source/Fragmentation_(computing)).[4]

## Other extended file systems

There are other members in the extended file system family:

- [ext2](/source/Ext2), the second extended file system.
- [ext3](/source/Ext3), the third extended file system.
- [ext4](/source/Ext4), the fourth extended file system.

## See also

- [List of file systems](/source/List_of_file_systems)
- [Comparison of file systems](/source/Comparison_of_file_systems)

## References

1. ["freelists.c - fs/ext/freelists.c - Linux source code (2.1.20)"](https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/2.1.20/source/fs/ext/freelists.c#L13). *Bootlin*. Retrieved 2023-05-14.

1. ["Rémy Card (Interview, April 1998)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120204082557/http://www.april.org/groupes/entretiens/remy_card.html) (in French). April Association. 19 April 1999. Archived from [the original](http://www.april.org/groupes/entretiens/remy_card.html) on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.

1. Jones, M. Tim (17 February 2009). ["Anatomy of ext4"](http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-anatomy-ext4/). IBM Developer Works. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150220020146/http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-anatomy-ext4/) 2015-02-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2012.

1. Card, Rémy; Ts'o, Theodore; Tweedie, Stephen. ["Design and Implementation of the Second Extended Filesystem"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120204044824/http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/ext2intro.html). Archived from [the original](https://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/ext2intro.html) on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012. First published in [*First Dutch International Symposium on Linux*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vRfKYgEACAAJ). State University of Groningen. 1995. ISBN 90-367-0385-9.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Extended file system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_file_system) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_file_system?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.