While explaining the reasons not to use NTFS to share between Windows and Linux OS’s especially using proton for gaming an idea came to me.
Would there be a way to implement a workable specialty file system/container system for gaming pcs/handhelds that used a COW FS that only the install and update processes had access to write the files on a FS within a main storage container.
Then when a game gets launched a clone is generated, in a execution container, but the clone functionally works COW so only written files are created in the clone as utilized and copied in during game play as they are read. After the game process terminates the system can pass the changes back to the semistatic storage container to update. Since this would happen via daemon or a driver stub in the background, using a WAL based transaction setup to pull the changes from the executable container, the user could continue to use their system. The WAL layer would allow for sleep/suspend/reboots to happen and the transactions would continue when next possible. Thinking it could happen very similar to how AWS manages entire database clones, only they dont send the changes from the clone back.
Benefits would be the main storage container could exist on any supported FS that its supervisory daemon runs on. Also if the container for primary storage is properly secured and encrypted it could make the anti cheat people happy, launch the game and a checksum runs against the container, the system could accept encryption keys from the game houses so their data is only ever decrypted as accessed. The game could self verify its own containment as execution started. Would it be possible to pull decrypted data from RAM, sure, but this isnt meant to be a 100% fix. Just a way to provide a bit more stability, flexibility and platform independence and close the gaps that everyone claims is what holds linux acceptance back from the big game houses.
The vid starting at 5:40 might help lead to some clarification of the cloning method I am suggestion. I’m not always great at explaining concepts.
I have no doubt this would be difficult, but if this game storage containment system could be created it would allow for much easier sharing of game libs between user OS’s, and updates for games could be done using some form of chunking with checksums post update.
