formatting partitions with two filesystems

[Erpo]

Someone emailed me rather than the list about a post I made regarding
transparently encrypting filesystems. Due to a bug I just discovered in
my mail client (Evolution 2.0.4) it would be a hassle to reply to that
message. However, that person is on the list, so here is my reply:

It is not possible for a partition to contain two separate filesystems
simultaneously, at least in a way that allows two different OSs with no
filesystems in common to share data. It is probably impossible to create
even a useless partition that is formatted with two filesystems
simultaneously.

FAT32 serves this purpose well enough for sharing unencrypted data
between linux and windows, although, as a side note, I hardly think this
is an excuse for the vast array of poorly implemented NTFS drivers for
linux and ext2/3 drivers for windows. What a mess!

Even if a partition could somehow be treated as an ext3 filesystem and a
FAT32 filesystem at the same time, it would not solve Hernan's problem
because he requires transparent encryption from two OSs operating on a
shared data storage area.


Eric