7 ms·

I love the slide where plan9 is compared to Linux (37 syscalls, 148,787 lines of code). For me, the missing tools would be a good up to date browser (google ch

I love the slide where plan9 is compared to Linux (37 syscalls, 148,787 lines of code). For me, the missing tools would be a good up to date browser (google chrome or firefox) and something like virtualbox for virtual machines. I think the browser can not work correctly without good video drivers. Libre Office would be a bonus.

calvin_ 12y ago
are you sure you even get Plan 9? the point is to avoid bloatmonsters like LO and most browsers, with smaller alternatives that work well with the team of the core utilities. drivers are a given though. i'm not sure what their philosophy on virtualization is though.
- frozenport 12y ago
  are you sure you even get how a PC works? If if it can't browse the web, its junk.
  - valarauca1 12y ago
    This is stupid. Bemoaning that a research project is junk because the average consumer can't use it misses the point of a research project. A lot of scientific and research equipment can't be used by the average Joe, and has very little implication on their lives. The reason it was posted here is because in Computer Science more then any other field the line between professional and research is blurred more then ever.
  - ccrush 12y ago
    You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. I only hope one day get the joy of understanding the roots of UNIX, the intention of Plan 9/Inferno, and the places it can be used outside of the PC world. I believe their major achievement is hardly the user interface or the driver support. Those are arcane measures of usefulness by today's standards. The main point of Plan 9/Inferno is not about where it runs at all. The point is that wherever it runs, the communication between networked resources is no longer a matter of each device being an island onto itself. It is designed from the ground to allow for a mesh of storage, computation, display, and other devices. The target audience is not your regular PC user just yet. I think the late Dennis Ritchie, of UNIX and C fame, said that Plan 9, much like UNIX, will not be fully appreciated for another 20 to 30 years.
    - frozenport 12y ago
      Plan9 won't take off until it can run software. But I find it amusing that at night I got +8 votes but the following day I got -4.
- freehunter 12y ago
  I don't think it's too unreasonable to wish for a Plan9 that could be usable on the desktop. Why let such a cool system go to waste?
  - p9idf 12y ago
    It's completely unreasonable. Why would someone want to waste a bunch of their time and money writing word processors and web browsers to win a pointless popularity contest? What would a word processor or web browser on Plan 9 enable you to do that you can't do already on Windows? Mass appeal is not the only way to evaluate the merits of a computer operating system, and Plan 9 isn't going to go to waste because it wasn't the most popular way to watch Youtube videos and write TPS reports.
    - angersock 12y ago
      writing word processors and web browsers to win a pointless popularity contest Get off your high horse. Nobody will give two shits about your toy operating system if it consistently fails to be useful for day-to-day work. (Which is a shame, because P9 is quite cool.)
      - p9idf 12y ago
        This discussion is becoming a little uncivil, but I'll try to stay on-track. "Nobody will [care] about your [...] operating system if it consistently fails to be useful for day-to-day work." Nobody except those who already find it useful for their day-to-day work, some of whom have already explained the system's utility to them in this thread. Only if you think popularity is the only way to judge the utility of a computer operating system can you so easily dismiss such a large and influential body of work. I posed a question earlier which you didn't address, and if you think chasing after mass appeal isn't pointless you should have an answer for: What would a word processor or web browser on Plan 9 (which everyone here seems to agree is cool) enable you to do that you can't already do elsewhere?
        smorrow 12y ago
SixSigma 12y ago
Plan9 now has Linux emulation. 3 different web browsers, it runs qemu see also 9front, a plan9 fork with stuff included that's not been blessed by the Labs (which is just Jim & Geoff nowadays I think).

calvin_ 12y ago

are you sure you even get Plan 9? the point is to avoid bloatmonsters like LO and most browsers, with smaller alternatives that work well with the team of the core utilities. drivers are a given though. i'm not sure what their philosophy on virtualization is though.

frozenport 12y ago
are you sure you even get how a PC works? If if it can't browse the web, its junk.
- valarauca1 12y ago
  This is stupid. Bemoaning that a research project is junk because the average consumer can't use it misses the point of a research project. A lot of scientific and research equipment can't be used by the average Joe, and has very little implication on their lives. The reason it was posted here is because in Computer Science more then any other field the line between professional and research is blurred more then ever.
- ccrush 12y ago
  You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. I only hope one day get the joy of understanding the roots of UNIX, the intention of Plan 9/Inferno, and the places it can be used outside of the PC world. I believe their major achievement is hardly the user interface or the driver support. Those are arcane measures of usefulness by today's standards. The main point of Plan 9/Inferno is not about where it runs at all. The point is that wherever it runs, the communication between networked resources is no longer a matter of each device being an island onto itself. It is designed from the ground to allow for a mesh of storage, computation, display, and other devices. The target audience is not your regular PC user just yet. I think the late Dennis Ritchie, of UNIX and C fame, said that Plan 9, much like UNIX, will not be fully appreciated for another 20 to 30 years.
  - frozenport 12y ago
    Plan9 won't take off until it can run software. But I find it amusing that at night I got +8 votes but the following day I got -4.
freehunter 12y ago
I don't think it's too unreasonable to wish for a Plan9 that could be usable on the desktop. Why let such a cool system go to waste?
- p9idf 12y ago
  It's completely unreasonable. Why would someone want to waste a bunch of their time and money writing word processors and web browsers to win a pointless popularity contest? What would a word processor or web browser on Plan 9 enable you to do that you can't do already on Windows? Mass appeal is not the only way to evaluate the merits of a computer operating system, and Plan 9 isn't going to go to waste because it wasn't the most popular way to watch Youtube videos and write TPS reports.
  - angersock 12y ago
    writing word processors and web browsers to win a pointless popularity contest Get off your high horse. Nobody will give two shits about your toy operating system if it consistently fails to be useful for day-to-day work. (Which is a shame, because P9 is quite cool.)
    - p9idf 12y ago
      This discussion is becoming a little uncivil, but I'll try to stay on-track. "Nobody will [care] about your [...] operating system if it consistently fails to be useful for day-to-day work." Nobody except those who already find it useful for their day-to-day work, some of whom have already explained the system's utility to them in this thread. Only if you think popularity is the only way to judge the utility of a computer operating system can you so easily dismiss such a large and influential body of work. I posed a question earlier which you didn't address, and if you think chasing after mass appeal isn't pointless you should have an answer for: What would a word processor or web browser on Plan 9 (which everyone here seems to agree is cool) enable you to do that you can't already do elsewhere?
      - smorrow 12y ago

SixSigma 12y ago

Plan9 now has Linux emulation. 3 different web browsers, it runs qemu see also 9front, a plan9 fork with stuff included that's not been blessed by the Labs (which is just Jim & Geoff nowadays I think).