. ▁ 3 2 ▁bits ▁does ▁not ▁give ▁enough ▁scope ▁to ▁continue ▁processing ▁files ▁beyond ▁January ▁ 1 8 , ▁ 2 0 3 8 ▁- ▁the ▁Year ▁ 2 0 3 8 ▁problem . ▁This ▁" Ge ek ' s ▁Mill en ni um " ▁is ▁expected ▁to ▁cause ▁w ides p read ▁dis ruption ▁if ▁not ▁de alt ▁with ▁in ▁a ▁tim ely ▁fashion . ▁ ▁ext 4 ▁ ▁On ▁June ▁ 2 8 , ▁ 2 0 0 6 , ▁The odore ▁Ts ' o , ▁the ▁principal ▁developer ▁of ▁ext 3 , ▁announced ▁an ▁en hanced ▁version , ▁called ▁ext 4 . ▁On ▁October ▁ 1 1 , ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁the ▁patch es ▁that ▁mark ▁ext 4 ▁as ▁stable ▁code ▁were ▁merged ▁in ▁the ▁Linux ▁ 2 . 6 . 2 8 ▁source ▁code ▁repositories , ▁mark ing ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁development ▁phase ▁and ▁recomm ending ▁its ▁ad option . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁Ts ' o ▁stated ▁that ▁although ▁ext 4 ▁has ▁improved ▁features ▁such ▁as ▁being ▁much ▁faster ▁than ▁ext 3 , ▁it ▁is ▁not ▁a ▁major ▁advance , ▁it ▁uses ▁old ▁technology , ▁and ▁is ▁a ▁stop - g ap ; ▁Ts ' o ▁bel ieves ▁that ▁B tr fs ▁is ▁the ▁better ▁direction , ▁because ▁" it ▁offers ▁improvements ▁in ▁scal ability , ▁reli ability , ▁and ▁ease ▁of ▁management ". ▁B tr fs ▁also ▁has ▁" a ▁number ▁of ▁the ▁same ▁design ▁ideas ▁that ▁re iser