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[rio] Plan 9 is not UNIX
(9p.sdf.org)
Submit screenshots of all your *NIX desktops, themes, and nifty configurations, or submit anything else that will make themers happy. Maybe a server running on an Amiga, or a Thinkpad signed by Bjarne Stroustrup? Show the world how pretty your computer can be!
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)
andsecstore(1)
, new users and directories under/
, etc.cwfs
is slowhjfs
is really slowno 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.