[9fans] Progeny Linux's Linux NOW

[Richard Uhtenwoldt <ru@ohio.river.org>]

a startup called ProgenyLinux.com plans to add to Linux per-process
namespaces and a network filesystem partially inspired by Plan 9,
resulting in a product tentatively called Linux NOW where "NOW" stands
for "network or workstations".  I attach an abridged version of Ian
Murdoch's description of the plans followed by some hints on how well
financed ProgenyLinux.com is.

on a related note, on June 12 Scott Schwartz <schwartz@bio.cse.psu.edu>
wrote, "I don't know the precise status of this, but linux developers
are working on adding 9p to their system."  is Linux NOW what Scott was
thinking of?  if not, I'd appreciate more info.

this next comes from
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/07/27/1526236

    Linux NOW makes a network look like a single system to simplify the
   task of managing the network, sharing resources on the network, making
   the network secure, providing a consistent environment to users. <snip>

          Linux NOW is about building a good abstraction, about
   simplifying, about reducing big problems to smaller, more approachable
                                 problems.

    We are writing a new file system. Many of the features that we need
    have been implemented in one file system or another, but there is no
   one file system that does all we need in one package. The file system
     that we're writing is largely influenced by the Sprite file system
    (http://HTTP.CS.Berkeley.EDU/Research/Projects/sprite/sprite.html),
      but we're integrating in various bits and pieces from other file
    systems where that makes sense. For example, Sprite was written ten
   years ago, and these days, networks are no longer static things, they
   contain laptops and mobile devices that come and go, and those mobile
    devices should be equal members of the network of workstations. So,
    we're looking very closely at projects like Coda and InterMezzo that
    provide support for mobile computing and disconnected operation, and
     borrowing ideas and code from those where that makes sense. We are
     also looking at cluster file systems, like GFS, and other network
               operating systems, particularly Plan 9. <snip>

   If you could take 2 features from two other operating systems and add
                     them to *nix what would they be?

                                    Ian:

      The first feature I would add to Unix is a good distributed file
   system. Unix has been lacking in this department for a long time. This
      is really unfortunate, because the file system is such a central
    abstraction in Unix, arguably *the* central abstraction in Unix. In
   Unix, if you can get the file system right, solutions to a remarkable
   number of very difficult problems just fall out, so the lack of a good
     distributed file system has really been the central thing that has
          made networks of workstations so hard to manage and use.

     The most important thing that a file system does is provide a name
    space, a high-level view of data storage. In spite of this, this is
    exactly where most network file systems for Unix fall short. Network
      file systems for Unix tend to be designed to share private name
    spaces, rather than to build common, network-oriented, network-wide
      name spaces. Look at the current state of affairs in Unix. Each
   machine on the network has its own disk and its own private name space
    built above it. Unix gives us NFS and AFS and other file systems to
   share name spaces, but the end result is that all these machines still
      have their own disks and their own name spaces built above them.
   Resources are scattered all over the network, and you end up with this
    crazy quilt of name spaces stitched together in haphazard ways. Some
     of the name spaces are shared, some aren't, and some parts of the
   private name spaces need to be shared but can't be shared easily. So,
        you end up with all sorts of problems, like how do you keep
   configuration consistent, how do you provide a consistent environment
     to users, how do you keep software up to date, and things get very
                          complicated in a hurry.
 
   In terms of what other operating systems have done with file systems,
   Sprite got the name space issue right. Sprite provided a single system
     image across a cluster of machines, including a single file system
   image; so, although there may be many computers and thus many disks in
     the network, there is one file system shared by all of them. Unix
       needs a file system that builds a network-wide name space, and
    provides high performance, high availability, good security, support
                for mobile computing, and other things too.

   The second feature I would add to Unix are the per-process name spaces
     of Plan 9. That is just an incredibly good idea. Although they are
     different in many ways, Plan 9 is like Sprite in that it builds a
     single system image across a network of machines, and there is one
     file system providing access to a global set of resources, just as
      there is in Sprite. The difference is that, in Plan 9, machines,
      users, and even processes can build their own local view of this
   global name space, rather than sharing one common view. This is a very
   powerful mechanism because you don't always want to see the same name
   space. For example, how do you deal with heterogeneity in a network of
    workstations? How do you deal with different classes of machines or
   users with varying access rights to the network's resources? Plan 9's
      per-process name spaces address these kinds of issues in a very
                                elegant way.

from a Progeny Linux press release:

   Indianapolis: July 10, 2000 - Progeny Linux Systems announces that it
   has completed its first round of financing. The new company has
   received seed capital through a private placement. <snip>

   Both Ian Murdock, president and CEO of Progeny, and Bruce Perens,
   Chairman of the Board of Directors, have served as Debian Project
   Leader and are involved in the Linux community. Other members of
   Progeny's staff are active Debian developers. Dr John H. Hartman,
   Chief Technical Officer, is an expert on computer operating and
   storage systems, and an Assistant Professor at the University of
   Arizona. Bern Galvin, Chief Financial Officer, has over twenty years
   of corporate financial experience, with expertise in viability
   analysis, organizational restructuring, due diligence, acquisitions,
   and corporate startups.

   Financing for Progeny was obtained with the help of the Linux Capital
   Group (www.linuxvc.com). Investors include a mixture of venture
   capitalists, investment bankers, angels, and the officers of several
   large publicly traded companies. Despite the volatility in the public
   markets, the financing was heavily oversubscribed.

   More details about Progeny's plans will be released in the next few
   months. For more information, contact info@progenylinux.com, or phone
   1-317-833-0313. <snip>
  
   Progeny Linux System is an Open Source
   company. We are firmly committed to Open Source, open development, and
   the community of developers and users that makes our business
   possible.