Re: [9fans] plan9 usability

[forsyth@caldo.demon.co.uk]

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plan 9 is useful as a standalone system.
on the other hand, for what you're doing, you'll need graphics
and thus rio to work.  the user interface expects it.  that's one
reason you're already finding it clumsy.  there are no cursor addressing
editors because there is no cursor addressing (since the system
postdates cursor addressed terminals).  [all right, there's an emulation
of a vt220, but that turns round and uses bitmap graphics to do it.]
there are two cut-and-paste editors once graphics is going: acme and sam.

meanwhile, during those initial configuration stages without graphics,
such as modifying /lib/vgadb if need be, you're limited to ed.
similarly, rio windows provide scrolling for larger text units.
try `p' to page output until rio is going (and some use p even under rio).

AGP devices can work; i use various AGP ATI cards successfully.


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From: Hermann Samso <samso@studserv.stud.uni-hannover.de>
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: [9fans] plan9 usability
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 08:42:33 GMT
Message-ID: <9f1n0o$q04$2@newsserver.rrzn.uni-hannover.de>


	Hello!

	How useful is plan9 as standalone system? It will
	take a little till I can network it to another
	machine, and I would like to use it mainly for
	research and programming.
	
	As it seems that I won't be able to use any graphics 
	(rio), AGP not being supported, and al...
	can I do my job working from console alone?
	Is there any plan for Vesa or standard Vga, SVga 
	support, so as to not rely too much on the hardware.
	With the speed of todays graphic cards, it should
	be possible to run rio under Svga/Vesa smoothly.

	saludos,
		hermann samso