Mac OS X/HFS+ case-insensitive? Why?

I just found out that HFS+, the preferred file system for Mac OS X, is case-insensitive when it comes to files and directories. I don’t understand why? It’s sure as hell causing issues with stuff I’m copying from my Ubuntu PC.

Just seems like a dumb idea.

2008-05-17 [mac, osx, rant]

Comments

Migrating from linux and just found this out as well and I agree with you 100% on this one.

Mike (2008-08-06 @ 21:50)
It’s case-insensitive for historical reasons (Mac OS < OS X was case insensitive, but case-preserving), and some apps that started on the classic Mac OS are still not fully compatible. The Disk Utility in Leopard (and Tiger?) can create a case-insensitive version of HFS+, and the capability has existed since Panther.

I have all my boot volumes set up as case-insensitive. You should test your important apps first, though. FileMaker Pro, for example, works except for the networking component, so I am not able to open network databases. Fortunately, my need for FMP is temporary.

Keep in mind you can create a disk image that is case-sensitive, and mount it somewhere convenient. For example, create a case-sensitive spare image called ~/Projects.sparseimage, then mount it at ~/Projects. This is what FileVault does, for example.

Aaron Burghardt (2008-08-10 @ 13:36)
Duh, I meant “Disk Utility in Leopard (and Tiger?) can create a case-sensitive HFS+ file system”, and I have all my boot volumes set up as case-sensitive.

Aaron Burghardt (2008-08-10 @ 13:39)
While one can indeed create a case-sensitive HFS+ file system, I would suggest only to use it for certain (limited) purposes (though I’m conservative in things like this). For example, many current Mac OS X applications that work with files do not provide case-sensitivity themselves. This is especially the case for backup and disk repair utilities. For example, most Mac backup applications will assume that ReadMe.txt and README.TXT are the same file, and only back one up.

Paul Goudfrooij (2008-09-24 @ 23:04)