"NTFS really isn't that bad" - Robert Collins (LCA 2020)

Why HN readers recommended it

The go-to reference for why file operations are slow on Windows and how antivirus filters, not NTFS itself, are the cause.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

linux.conf.au

Topic

windows filesystem performance

Format

talk

Level

advanced

HN recommenders in dataset

5

HN mentions in dataset

12

Recommendation years in dataset

2020–2025

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Add your npm directories to the virus file exclusion lists of Windows Defender. Note that some of the directories may not be obvious (those under AppData for example). The speed improvements are massive for tools like these that touch lots of small files. Also take …

• I want to take this opportunity to recommend the talk "NTFS isn't that bad" ( [VIDEO] ). NTFS prefers a different access pattern than most usual file systems. I remember that a part of the talk was about speed-ups on Linux as well. So even …

• That may be due to a combination of Malware detection + most unix programs not really written to take advantage of the features NTFS has to offer This is a great talk on the topic [VIDEO]