tmpfs is a file system server for temporary data storage without using a real (permanent) ?backing store.

It is based on libdiskfs.

Even though there are other possibilities of creating a ramdisk and running a regular, for example, ext2 file system on it, having a real tmpfs is better, as it need not deal with the additional block-level indirection layer that ext2 (or any other disk-based file system) imposes.

tmpfs generally works, although it requires root permissions for file content; see the discussion sub-pages for the past and current issues. There is a FOSS Factory bounty (p271) on this task.