[9fans] So What is P9 good for.....

[John Stalker <stalker@Math.Princeton.EDU>]

 From Jeffrey Haun <ziplok@bellsouth.net>:
>I ask this in all seriousness...After visiting the main page at bell
>labs, and reading from the links there, I'm sorta missing the point of
>Plan 9. The interface is nice. But applications are sparce. What is
>the draw of thie OS. I tried to install it. But the hardware I have is
>not supported. So why go to the trouble. Why does the bunny not die???
> Why do YOU use Plan 9 and not Linux/FreeBSD?

The following is just my personal opinion.  I don't really use plan9 to do
productive work.  I use primarily FreeBSD at home and Linux at work,
though I have computers with NetBSD, WinME, and plan9 installed on
them.  The main reason I installed plan9 was to see how it works.  It
is a small and well designed OS.  Those are hard to find.  Early linux
is small, but not well designed.  If you want to write software it is
a relatively easy platform to write for.  There are two reasons I don't
use it seriously and probably never will.

	Hardware: Yes, it is not easy to get plan9 to work with your
	hardware.  A small user and developer means few drivers.  You
	can buy hardware specifically for plan9, and I have bought a
	graphics card specifically for its plan9 support, but hardware
	is definitely a problem.  For this reason I have plan9 only
	on one machine, even though its strength is distributed computing.

	Software: Some applications are very nice.  Acme is a good example.
	There are very few applications though.  Some important categories,
	e.g. graphical web browsing, aren't really covered.  I don't know
	of a single plan9 game.  No, fortune is not a game.

I would say running plan9 is a good idea if you want to learn about
systems programming, do a bit yourself, and maybe borrow some ideas.
If you want a nice stable system with good hardware and software
support then you are much better off with FreeBSD.

The other reason to use plan9 is glenda, the bunny.  She is pretty cute.
--
John Stalker
Department of Mathematics
Princeton University
(609)258-6469