From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Message-ID: <11ecd59550d99998dd6dc36cc4d9a8ca@proxima.alt.za> To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Subject: Re: [9fans] writing code Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 06:51:25 +0200 From: lucio@proxima.alt.za In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Topicbox-Message-UUID: 4cfec3ec-eace-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 >> [answer 3] >> plan 9 is intended to be used as a networked system. laptops >> are second-class citizens. >> > > hmm, this just sounds like another argument against using plan 9. Not really. Laptops are a poor solution to the problem of information ownership and, on the reverse side, information sharing. So is the disked workstation; for that matter, the entire "personal computer" idea. Plan 9 does not propose to solve the problem, but addresses it much better than all other conventional approaches. You've forgotten the sanity in the early Plan 9 papers and have (no offence intended) been swept along by the commoditisation of computing resources. Consider the COO of laptops, specially when lost or stolen, then replace the laptop with an authentication device that gives you access to any computing terminal anywhere, where Plan 9 provides the computing and file services your access device authenticates you to. Even Microsoft Passport aspired to such a model, but they could not pull off what Plan 9 does by default. ++L PS: the above may be a little murky, but I need to beat a dealine and Ron's remark deserve a more positive reply. I'm sure Ron will catch my meaning.