<s>
The	O
extended	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
or	O
ext	B-Application
,	O
was	O
implemented	O
in	O
April	O
1992	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
created	O
specifically	O
for	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
kernel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
metadata	O
structure	O
inspired	O
by	O
traditional	O
Unix	B-Application
filesystem	I-Application
principles	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
designed	O
by	O
Rémy	O
Card	O
to	O
overcome	O
certain	O
limitations	O
of	O
the	O
MINIX	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
implementation	O
that	O
used	O
the	O
virtual	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
(	O
VFS	O
)	O
,	O
for	O
which	O
support	O
was	O
added	O
in	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
kernel	O
in	O
version	O
0.96c	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
could	O
handle	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
up	O
to	O
2	O
gigabytes	O
(	O
GB	O
)	O
in	O
size	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ext	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
of	O
extended	B-Application
file	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1993	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
superseded	O
by	O
both	O
ext2	B-Application
and	O
Xiafs	B-Application
,	O
which	O
competed	O
for	O
a	O
time	O
,	O
but	O
ext2	B-Application
won	O
because	O
of	O
its	O
long-term	O
viability	O
:	O
ext2	B-Application
remedied	O
issues	O
with	O
ext	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
immutability	O
of	O
inodes	B-Application
and	O
fragmentation	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
other	O
members	O
in	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
family	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
ext2	B-Application
,	O
the	O
second	B-Application
extended	I-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
ext3	B-Application
,	O
the	O
third	O
extended	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
ext4	B-Application
,	O
the	O
fourth	O
extended	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
