The fate of the Reiser4 file system for Linux may well depend on a verdict rendered by a California jury this week.

As an Alameda County jury continues to deliberate the fate of Hans Reiser, the designer of the Reiser File System for Linux who is accused of murdering his wife in late 2006, a key developer on the Reiser4 project acknowledged he is uncertain about its future.

The trial ended last week and a verdict is expected imminently. The jury resumed deliberations on Monday morning.

“Reiser4 is a concern,” said Edward Shishkin, a top developer on the open source project who responded to my questions via e-mail. “It depends on my future work. I am unemployed for now [and] Reiser4 project requires not less than 20 percent of my working time.”

“On the one hand, it would be a pity to drop it, as I’ve spent a lot of time for this. Also it is hard to find really interesting projects like Reiser4,” he said. “On the other hand, I should think about money.”

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