Re: Feature request, "create on mount" to create mount point directory on mount, implied remove on unmount

[Ray Dillinger]

I would also like to make a request about mount options:

Figure out exactly what you want to do FIRST, and then do ALL
of it - changing the mount options and defaults less often than
once a year. And if you can, aim for June 14  EVERY year you
do it.

I say this because every last one of the last thirty changes in
mounting - from persistent names for volumes,to default mount
points, to automount permissions changes, to mounting removable
media under separate directories per-user - has BROKEN backup
scripts and in most cases either prevented backups from
happening at all or produced backup volumes containing only a
single user's stuff and/or unusable by any other user besides
whoever happened to be logged in during some ONE time when the
backup drive got plugged in.

We RELY on backups.  We set up a backup script, attach a drive,
make sure it's working, and then tend not to look at it again
until we need it - whereupon, if between the time we set it up
and the previous day, breakage has occurred due to a software
update, we lose data.

If permissions change because a different user is logged in when
the drive gets attached after the next boot, or if the name of
the damn mount point changes from 'sda4' to some quasi-random
hex string, or if the quasi-random hex string changes just because
we're using a different backup drive, or if the directory structure
changes because REASONS OKAY AND I'M SURE THEY MIGHT HAVE SEEMED
IMPORTANT, those changes F"Inconvenience"ck us over every time!

It's actually reached the point where I expect any backup
solution installed more than three weeks ago to be broken, and
it's prompting some very nasty pointed questions about why are
we still using this flaky goddamn system.

                                Bear


On 07/03/2015 05:01 AM, jon wrote:
> Hi, could I make a hugely nieve user request :-) 
> 
> Would it be possible to add a new mount option to everything?
> 
> New mount option 'com' = "create on mount" (implied remove on unmount).
> 
> 
> Example fstab entry
> /mounts/amountpoint   LABEL=notalwayshere     ext4,com
> 
> 
> # ls /mounts
> # mount /mounts/amountpoint
> # ls /mounts
> amountpoint
> # umount /mounts/amountpoint
> # ls /mounts
> # 
> 
> 
> The idea is to create a mount point directory (one level only) if does
> not exist when an FS is mounted, umount would remove it when an FS is
> unmounted (assuming it was empty) otherwise generate a warning.
> 
> As the 'com' flag would need to carried with the mount I assume the
> logic would have to be handled in mount() and umount() call itself ?
> 
> I can see issues if the mount point directory is read only or similar,
> but I am sure most cases could be handled with just a warning.
> 
> Many thanks,
> Jon
> 
> 
>

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