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(Glendix author here) The project is mostly dead since I haven't had the time to work on this in years. If anyone's interested in picking it up and porting it

by anant 12y ago

(Glendix author here) The project is mostly dead since I haven't had the time to work on this in years. If anyone's interested in picking it up and porting it to the latest kernel version, I'd be happy to help in any way I can! The interesting bits are mostly in the a.out (plan9's executable format) loader that enable implementing the small set of plan9 system calls.

SkyMarshal 12y ago
One of the most interesting aspects of Plan 9 is the lack of a root user. Did you ever have any thoughts on the possibility of implementing that in Linux?
- anant 12y ago
  The goal was to bring Plan 9's most useful tools to Linux, rather than modify Linux to become more Plan 9-ish. Glendix doesn't modify the core or essence of Linux in any meaningful way (it's more like Wine in that sense), so the question of removing the root user never came up. Couple of sub-projects within Glendix that are pretty interesting though are the synthetic /net filesystem that serves a TCP API, and per-process namespaces. These are simply in addition to what Linux already provides, so they don't impact existing Linux applications in any way. Glendix runs just like any other Linux installation, you just have access to more Plan 9 stuff.
- SixSigma 12y ago
  The root concept is replaced by capabilities (sort of). So, for instance, the process owner that boots the machine (usually called bootes) can kill processes and spawn new ones as any username. That doesn't mean that they can fake your credentials to the network though, you need to authenticate with the auth server which will be on another machine. That you can access your files on the fileserver. The concept of a network of connected islands is replaced by a network of connected services.
emmelaich 12y ago
Please put a date somewhere on the front page.
- Semiapies 12y ago
  It's the submitter's responsibility not to submit a link about a defunct project, something they can quickly determine. It's readers' responsibility not to blindly upvote items like this because of the title.
  - emmelaich 12y ago
    I'm just requesting a common bit of content on web page; it wasn't really anything to do with HN. In this particular case my immediate thought was what is its relationship to plan9port and a date would have helped. All web pages for projects, codes, blogs, should have a bunch of fairly standard things such as dates, news, about, source url, and a bunch of other stuff. plan9 (and Go) people seem to have a bit of disdain for dates and version numbers which I actually find admirable in a way. Heroic and futile but admirable :)
    - Semiapies 12y ago
      I'm really complaining more generally than about what you said. I don't think you're asking anything unreasonable, really.

by anant 12y ago

SkyMarshal 12y ago

One of the most interesting aspects of Plan 9 is the lack of a root user. Did you ever have any thoughts on the possibility of implementing that in Linux?

anant 12y ago
The goal was to bring Plan 9's most useful tools to Linux, rather than modify Linux to become more Plan 9-ish. Glendix doesn't modify the core or essence of Linux in any meaningful way (it's more like Wine in that sense), so the question of removing the root user never came up. Couple of sub-projects within Glendix that are pretty interesting though are the synthetic /net filesystem that serves a TCP API, and per-process namespaces. These are simply in addition to what Linux already provides, so they don't impact existing Linux applications in any way. Glendix runs just like any other Linux installation, you just have access to more Plan 9 stuff.
SixSigma 12y ago
The root concept is replaced by capabilities (sort of). So, for instance, the process owner that boots the machine (usually called bootes) can kill processes and spawn new ones as any username. That doesn't mean that they can fake your credentials to the network though, you need to authenticate with the auth server which will be on another machine. That you can access your files on the fileserver. The concept of a network of connected islands is replaced by a network of connected services.

emmelaich 12y ago

Please put a date somewhere on the front page.

Semiapies 12y ago
It's the submitter's responsibility not to submit a link about a defunct project, something they can quickly determine. It's readers' responsibility not to blindly upvote items like this because of the title.
- emmelaich 12y ago
  I'm just requesting a common bit of content on web page; it wasn't really anything to do with HN. In this particular case my immediate thought was what is its relationship to plan9port and a date would have helped. All web pages for projects, codes, blogs, should have a bunch of fairly standard things such as dates, news, about, source url, and a bunch of other stuff. plan9 (and Go) people seem to have a bit of disdain for dates and version numbers which I actually find admirable in a way. Heroic and futile but admirable :)
  - Semiapies 12y ago
    I'm really complaining more generally than about what you said. I don't think you're asking anything unreasonable, really.