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1 | 1 | # EncFS - an Encrypted Filesystem |
2 | 2 |
|
3 | | -_Build Status_ |
4 | | - - Travis: [](https://travis-ci.org/vgough/encfs) |
5 | | - - Cirrus: [](https://cirrus-ci.com/github/vgough/encfs) |
| 3 | +**This project is NOT maintained. For details, see the [Status](#status) section.** |
6 | 4 |
|
7 | 5 | ## About |
8 | 6 |
|
9 | 7 | EncFS provides an encrypted filesystem in user-space. It runs in userspace, |
10 | | -using the FUSE library for the filesystem interface. EncFS is open source |
| 8 | +using the [FUSE library](https://github.com/libfuse/libfuse) for the filesystem interface. EncFS is open source |
11 | 9 | software, licensed under the LGPL. |
12 | 10 |
|
13 | | -EncFS is now over 15 years old (first release in 2003). It was written because |
14 | | -older NFS and kernel-based encrypted filesystems such as CFS had not kept pace with Linux |
| 11 | +EncFS was first released in 2003, making it one of the earlier FUSE filesystems! |
| 12 | +I wrote it because I needed to encrypt my data while traveling, and the existing NFS and |
| 13 | +kernel-based encrypted filesystems such as CFS had not kept pace with Linux |
15 | 14 | development. When FUSE became available, I wrote a CFS replacement for my own |
16 | | -use and released the first version to Open Source in 2003. |
| 15 | +use and later released it to Open Source when it seemed stable. |
17 | 16 |
|
18 | 17 | EncFS encrypts individual files, by translating all requests for the virtual |
19 | 18 | EncFS filesystem into the equivalent encrypted operations on the raw |
20 | 19 | filesystem. |
21 | 20 |
|
22 | 21 | For more info, see: |
23 | 22 |
|
24 | | - - The excellent [encfs manpage](encfs/encfs.pod) |
| 23 | + - The [encfs manpage](encfs/encfs.pod) |
25 | 24 | - The technical overview in [DESIGN.md](DESIGN.md) |
26 | 25 |
|
27 | 26 | ## Status |
28 | 27 |
|
29 | | -Over the last 15 years, a number of good alternatives have grown up. Computing |
30 | | -power has increased to the point where it is reasonable to encrypt the entire |
31 | | -filesystem of personal computers (and even mobile phones!). On Linux, ecryptfs |
32 | | -provides a nice dynamically mountable encrypted home directory, and is well |
33 | | -integrated in distributions I use, such as Ubuntu. |
| 28 | +In the time since EncFS was written, a lot has changed in the security, |
| 29 | +privacy, and computing landscapes. Computing power has increased enormously over |
| 30 | +what a circa-2003 laptop can provide, and so it is no longer a performance burden |
| 31 | +to encrypt the entire filesystem of a personal device. Software encryption has also |
| 32 | +spread widely - data encryption is built into most systems and programs, so there is |
| 33 | +far less of a need to have a separate encryption system. |
34 | 34 |
|
35 | | -EncFS has been dormant for a while. I've started cleaning up in order to try |
36 | | -and provide a better base for a version 2, but whether EncFS flowers again |
37 | | -depends upon community interest. In order to make it easier for anyone to |
38 | | -contribute, it is moving a new home on GitHub (2014). Since then project has |
39 | | -been updated a few times thanks to several contributors, so if you're |
40 | | -interested in EncFS, please dive in! |
| 35 | +EncFS has been dormant for a long time now. I haven't used or worked on EncFS in |
| 36 | +many years. I've left the repository here because I don't want to prevent anyone |
| 37 | +from using it if they have a need that can't be met otherwise. I'm sure that I have |
| 38 | +some very old backups that would still require EncFS to access, so I expect that I |
| 39 | +might have to compile it again someday. |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +Don't expect any updates on this project. You're free to fork it, of course, but |
| 42 | +remember that this is a 20+yr old codebase which was only funded by personal |
| 43 | +interest, so I wouldn't expect it to live up to modern-day coding standards. |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +If you're considering setting up a new encrypted filesystem wrapper, I'd recommend |
| 46 | +looking into newer alternatives, such as the excellent [GoCryptFS](https://github.com/rfjakob/gocryptfs). |
| 47 | + |
| 48 | +Thank you all for the early support, especially the FUSE author Miklos Szeredi, |
| 49 | +and all the interesting discussions at Open Source and Linux meetups over the years. |
| 50 | +Valient Gough |
| 51 | +May 2024 |
41 | 52 |
|
42 | 53 | ## Unique Features |
43 | 54 |
|
@@ -76,10 +87,6 @@ work, some of which may be back-ported to the master branch when it is stable. T |
76 | 87 | dev branch is not stable, and there is no guarantee of backward compatibility |
77 | 88 | between changes. |
78 | 89 |
|
79 | | -## Donations |
80 | | - |
81 | | -How about a nice email instead? |
82 | | - |
83 | 90 | ## Windows |
84 | 91 |
|
85 | 92 | EncFS works on Cygwin, there are also some Windows ports. |
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