[tlug] [OT?]A Hard Drive Question

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

burlingk@example.com writes:

 > Is it possible to format one using EXT3 or similar?

Of course, although you probably want to partition it first.

 > If so, are there any benefits to doing so?
 >  
 > I know that at the very least, it would make the drive harder to use
 > with Windows. :P

That's benefit #1.

As for the other reasons one might want to use ext3, they all apply to
an external drive just as much as any other one.  It's going to be
faster and more reliable, and will have more Unixy semantics for the
directory.