If Hans Reiser, the developer of the Reiser File System is indicted for murdering his ex-wife, what is to happen to the Reiser File System?

File system architect, Hans Reiser -- the developer of the Reiser File System (ReiserFS) was arrested and held on pending charges in the suspected murder of his ex-wife, Nina Reiser, who went missing early September, 2006.

Is Reiser guilty?

The irony is, despite the negative publicity Hans has been receiving the past several months -- the community calling him a muderer, and even nicknaming his successful Linux file system "MurderFS", still a body has yet to be found, let alone the murder proven.  For all we know, Nina is still alive and well.  In fact, a $25,000 reward is still being offered as of this post to track down her whereabouts.  So, is Hans Reiser guilty of murder?  Well... we don't even know yet if Nina has been murdered.  I pray to God that she's ok, and this has all been a bad screwup on the part of law officials - but the fact remains that our society needs to continue in the footsteps of our forefathers and believe Hans to be innocent until proven guilty.  Of a crime that we don't even yet know has been committed.

So, what happens to ReiserFS?

The development of ReiserFS and Reiser4 (the newest version of the Reiser File System) has been backed by big names, such as Linspire (formerly "Lindows") for several years.  Being an open source project, there is no doubt in my mind that production will continue on the Reiser File System, regardless of the outcome of Hans' conviction.  Despite Novell's decision to transition away from ReiserFS, I personally feel that there are too many "good things" about ReiserFS to cause it to fall by the wayside due to Hans' arrest.  But will it become a community-driven project rather than a Namesys-distributed file system?  I suppose only time will tell.

As a community, we need to be careful not to burn our brethren at the stake.  We really don't even know what the truth is at this point, with regards to Nina's whereabouts or Hans' involvement, so let's not point fingers, but rather let's carry an "innocent until proven guilty" mindset.

Our prayers are with Nina, the children, as well as Hans and Nina's boyfriend, Anthony.

For more information, visit www.NinaReiser.com or WikiPedia's Article .