Bcachefs is a promising copy‑on‑write Linux filesystem that supports encryption, snapshots, compression, and more. It is seen as a modern rival to Btrfs and ZFS and was initially merged into kernel 6.7, but was always tagged as experimental.
However, getting it into the kernel hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. Over time, it became clear there were stability issues, with frequent bugfixes and conflicting commits. It even got to the point where Linus openly admitted, midway through last year, that he regretted ever allowing support for the file system to be added to the kernel.
In addition, the ongoing disagreements between Bcachefs lead developer Kent Overstreet and Linus Torvalds have recently escalated.
The clash stems from a long‑standing debate on kernel rhythm: Linus enforces strict release-cycle discipline, allowing only minimal fixes during release candidates, while Kent submitted substantive changes (a patch implementing the new “journal_rewind” option) justified by urgent data-recovery needs, though they landed late in the cycle.
As a result, Linus Torvalds pulled the Bcachefs patch planned for 6.16‑rc3, notifying that it wouldn’t be included in the 6.17 merge window. He explained that Overstreet had made it “very clear” Linus couldn’t even question bug‑fixes, triggering Linus to step away: “we’re done.”
I have pulled this, but also as per that discussion, I think we’ll be parting ways in the 6.17 merge window. You made it very clear that I can’t even question any bug-fixes and I should just pull anything and everything. Honestly, at that point, I don’t really feel comfortable being involved at all, and the only thing we both seemed to really fundamentally agree on in that discussion was “we’re done”.
In response, Kent Overstreet emphasized his focus on ensuring user data integrity, claiming he couldn’t defer certain fixes and needed Linus to “tone it down,” not to weaponize PRs, by beginning his answer with:
Linus, I’m not trying to say you can’t have any say in bcachefs. Not at
all. I positively enjoy working with you – when you’re not being a d***, but
you can be genuinely impossible sometimes. A lot of times…
Well, as we’ve seen, things can get pretty heated on the kernel mailing list, and let’s be honest—Linus isn’t exactly known for his tact when rules get broken. But in this case, Overstreet also stepped over the line of what most would consider good taste. So, what does all this lead to?
With Bcachefs removed from 6.17, it will no longer receive automatic upstream integration, affecting its availability and stability in mainstream distributions. Users dependent on Bcachefs will likely need to use out‑of‑tree builds or pursue alternative filesystems unless Kent and Linus reconcile before the 6.18 merge window.
