Hello, everyone. I'm into computers in a moderate sort of way, and have tried a bunch of different Linux distros. That said, I'm not a particularly technical person and my computing knowledge is very shallow.
I keep encountering references to Plan9 on forums and blogs, and I was intrigued. I tried to read the Wikipedia article, and the 9front FAQ, but I ended up none the wiser. So I'd like to turn to the good people of Reddit!
- What is/was Plan9 from Bell Labs?
- What are the salient features of Plan9 that distinguish it from other operating systems?
- Would Plan9 be useful as a "daily driver" OS for home computing? If not, then what kind of useage cases does Plan9 excel at?
- As I understand it, the Plan9 project is defunct and the team behind it has disbanded. Are there any successor operating systems, or "forks"?
Thanks!
Nokia, Bell Labs' parent company, has announced that they've transferred ownership of Plan 9 to the Plan 9 Foundation. And immediately, the Foundation has released all historical Plan 9 releases, back through 1st edition, under the MIT license.
Longer announcement on 9fans: https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/Tf20bce89ef96d4b6/transfer-of-plan-9-to-the-plan-9-foundation
Or if you just want the stuff: https://p9f.org/dl/
I can install OpenSSH with contrib/install fgb/openssl; contrib/install fgb/openssh, but I don't find any results for an "sshd" binary with cd /386; du -a | grep sshd. Is there another name for this program in contrib? Or, is there a combination of flags to ssh clients that can somehow trigger running in server mode?
Update
Ah, I see http://man.cat-v.org/plan_9/1/ssh2 and am experimenting with its suggested steps for this.
Hello,
I've been reading about these interesting OS that have been relegated to experimentation only circles of distributed computing enthusiasts and c programmers, but some of the conventions that they embody are really cool, namely:
- Everything is a file - all files (duh), devices, other computers, etc. - that can be used locally or exported for remote use
- Every user and process has it's own unique namespace with its own view (or obfuscation) of the file system
- 9P protocol that 'speaks' services as file
For more information, Here's a really cool Raspberry Pi cluster that an enthusiast built for Plan 9 distributed computing concept and a fork called 9Front that may have the most sizable community which is in and of itself a hilariously mind-bending read. Lastly, here's a hacker news thread with some discussion and some amazing pictures.
Are there any ways that the technologies or conventions in these OS can be instigated in the Linux OS? Further, are there any OS that are currently employing any of these concepts? Has 9P been ported to any other OS? (I'm looking at YOU, NetBSD-powered toaster!)
Would love to hear what people know or think. Thanks!
Hi,
There's this interesting OS called Plan 9 from Bell Labs that was released in the late 80s/early 90s. It's obviously dated, but it gave way to some very futuristic computing concepts that I believe are incredibly relevant today.
I'm just wondering if any of the Plan 9 OS from Bell Labs conventions are possible in future releases of NetBSD? Specifically:
- All files (obviously), IO devices like mice, displays, processes, other computers, etc. are represented and accessed via a file
- Every file (or device, computer, etc.) can be exported for use remotely using 9P protocol (lending itself to excellent native distributed computing possibilities)
- Every single user and process spawns an entirely unique namespace in which permissions enable (or obscure) what is seen by said user or process
These conventions sound pretty bad-ass to me, but are they even possible on a more mature OS? Is there any way an OS might start converging on some of these concepts in the future?
Note: You can get a real sense of the way in which it works by reading an 'FQA' about the usage of one of its forks, 9Front - seems pretty mind-bending to me!
Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Hi,
There's this interesting OS called Plan 9 from Bell Labs that was released in the late 80s/early 90s. It's obviously dated, but it gave way to some very futuristic computing concepts that I believe are incredibly relevant today.
I'm just wondering if any of the Plan 9 OS from Bell Labs conventions are possible in future releases of OpenBSD? Specifically:
- All files (obviously), IO devices like mice, displays, processes, other computers, etc. are represented and accessed via a file
- Every file (or device, computer, etc.) can be exported for use remotely using 9P protocol (lending itself to excellent native distributed computing possibilities)
- Every single user and process spawns an entirely unique namespace in which permissions enable (or obscure) what is seen by said user or process
These conventions sound pretty bad-ass to me, but are they even possible on a more mature OS? Is there any way an OS might start converging on some of these concepts in the future?
Note: You can get a real sense of the way in which it works by reading an 'FQA' about the usage of one of its forks, 9Front - seems pretty mind-bending to me!
Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Edit: I found a site about convergence of plan 9 with OpenBSD here! ... would still like to hear from people, has anyone tried it / use it?
