Re: [9fans] Any ANTS Users?

[Pete Elmore <pete@debu.gs>]

'addsources' is just an rc script.  If you open it up, you'll notice it just mounts the sources fs from Bell Labs, and binds some of it over /bin, which is why it takes a minute.  It's there mostly for fun, use it sparingly. :)  I recommend going through his tutorials, which explain everything and show you how to rebuild an image from scratch, so you can modify it to do things like point it at a local file server.

The 9gridchan venti is no longer reachable over the net.  mycroftiv was a little worried (understandably) that there might eventually be some issues with wide-open, public, archival storage.

----- Original message -----
> Hello 9fans,
>
> I am using the version of the Advanced Namespace ToolS available from the
> website, and of course gawking at it going "Well, how in the Hell do
> I...?" Todays revelation involved using "addsources" to populate my /bin
> directory, and of course, when I run "faces" I am told that /bin/faces
> doesn't exist.
>
> First up, where is my Plan 9 VM getting these files in the /bin
> directory? After the "addsources" command is executed, I wait for a
> couple of minutes, and then the /bin directory is populated. Can I
> hazard that they're being downloaded, or perhaps even namespaced in? If
> so, where are they coming from? The 9gridchan venti? If this sounds like
> a load of BS, correct me, I'm just very curious to understand what is
> happening.
>
> So addsources executes, lo and behold, I have my programs. I am able to
> "ls -l" - yup, they're there, execute the program in question, and the
> file doesn't exist. So whats causing this? Again, I'm just curious,
> eager to understand the inner workings of this thing I only barely know
> the outline of.
>
> Now, I know the best person to ask would be mycroftiv, but he seems to be
> unavailable at the moment, which is fair enough. Does anyone else use
> ANTS, can they answer my questions, and can they please lend a hand?
>
> Many thanks all!
>
> Shane.