Re: [9fans] gcc on plan9

["Corey" <corey_s@qwest.net>]

On Thursday 08 June 2006 02:40, Lluís Batlle wrote:
> 2006/6/8, Corey <corey_s@qwest.net>:
> > I have neither the morale nor the power to write even a single line of code
> > for this new  "integrated graphical desktop environment" on Plan 9 -- I
> > merely intend to assemble the work that others are doing; I'm like a child
> > clumsily playing with lego bricks. The best that I can do is help write
> > the gluework to get it working together nicely.
>
> What do you mean by "others are doing"? I don't know about the GNUStep
> general development,
> 

GNUstep is quite healthy and active, and the core libraries are all either at 
"1.0" release, or very close to it.

> but a bit about Windowmaker's - there isn't more 
> than a message a month in their mailing lists, 
>

I think this is possibly where I may have been somewhat misunderstood -
I don't want to bring windowmaker and X11 and all that stuff onto a Plan 9
installation; I am "merely" interested in experimenting with Objective-C 
and the GNUstep libraries on Plan 9, in Plan fashion.

I would like to _use_ Objective-C/GNUstep _natively_ on Plan 9 in purely 
idiomatic Plan 9 style - meaning I would be writing services as file
systems through 9P. All I really need to begin this is an Objective-C compiler; 
the rest is what I would consider the "gluework" to get it working in Plan 9.  

Even the GNUstep gui framework is abstracted so well that it imposes no 
assumptions as to the backend windowing environment:

"The GNUstep GUI Library is designed in two parts.  The first part is
the front-end component which is independent of platform and display
system.  This front-end is combined with a back-end component which
handles all of the display system dependent such as specific calls to
X/Windows.  This design allows the GNUstep applications to have the
"look and feel" of the underlying display system without any changes to
the application, and the library can be easily ported to other display
systems.

The GNUstep GUI Library requires the GNU Objective-C compiler, the
GNUstep Base Library, the TIFF Graphics library, and a back-end
component like the GNUstep 'Back' Backend."

Writing a Plan 9 back-end component for the GNUstep GUI Library, is
an excellent example of the sort of "gluework" I'd be able to tackle, likely
with some help.


> Maybe I'm wrong? I don't know about the out-of-the-mailing-lists work.
> 

I'm definitely not trying to turn Plan 9 into a Linux clone; and I personally, 
despite reading through this whole thread, am still scratching my head
as to why programming 9P services on Plan 9 in some other language
besides C, awk, sed, or rc is met with such resentment and gnashing of
teeth.