[lxgr]

I think it’s unrealistic to think that Microsoft or any embedded device vendor would have ever implemented ZFS, regardless of the patent situation.

macOS might have switched to something more modern a bit sooner than they did, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they hadn’t switched to APFS anyway after a while. Being able to independently drive your non-detachable-storage FS spec is a pretty big advantage as an OS vendor.

[josephg]

Well, according to my source, it would have actually happened if not for oracle. These decisions really come down to the people involved. I’m sure some people, given that choice, would never consider zfs. But some clearly would - and did.

Using an opensource filesystem like zfs doesn’t mean you aren’t in charge of your own destiny. Apple has skilled systems engineers. They could easily have made custom extensions and changes to zfs if they saw fit.