[rio] Plan 9 is not UNIX

bubstance@lemmy.sdf.org to Unixporn@lemmy.ml – 129 points –
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Indeed.

9front comes with two browsers out of the box: abaco and mothra. There is also a port of NetSurf as well as both gopher and gemini browsers.

something you can't do or any inconvenience on this system?

Oh sure, lots of things are "inconvenient" on Plan 9.

Of note for most would-be users: if you rely on a modern web browser like Firefox/Chrome, forget about it. Never going to happen.

It's important to remember that Plan 9 is fundamentally a research operating system; it's not really a "typical" environment by any stretch, and that stems largely from it being entirely network-based and distributed. A single Plan 9 system in isolation can only be so interesting. Using it on a laptop like this can be an entirely different set of problems.

If you'd like some examples of things you may face:

  • booting can be slow

  • can be intimidating to set up for some of the more important features – factotum(4) and secstore(1), new users and directories under /, etc.

  • cwfs is slow

  • hjfs is really slow

  • no multi-monitor support

  • only recently did we get a filesystem that specifically aims to be crash-safe

  • poor documentation, though it's been getting better

  • reading research papers is basically a requirement for understanding the system

  • security is not a priority

For me, though? I genuinely don't need much more than what's available in the base system.