Re: [9fans] sad commentary

[John Stalker <stalker@maths.tcd.ie>]

Maybe this is a troll, but I'll answer anyway.

I would say 1, 2, 3, and 5 benefit from using plan9.
4 and 7 don't notice much whether they are using plan9.
6 aren't likely to get to use plan9, though their jobs
would be a lot easier if they could use acid (the
debugger, not the recreational substance).

> Which types of programmers?
>
> 1. Casual programmers, e.g. an admin who finds out a few lines of code
> could lighten their burden
>
> 2. Programmers in need of a dirty-but-quick solution, e.g. a prototype
>
> 3. Hobby programmers, i.e. those who learn out of curiosity and aren't
> "forced" to remain loyal to a specific system's quirks and general edginess
>
> 4. Reluctant programmers, i.e. those who aren't programmers per se but need
> to write one program in the course of solving another--probably
> non-computerish--problem
>
> 5. Ueberprogrammers, e.g. those who write one new OS in each circadian cycle
>
> 6. Plain vanilla programmers, i.e. people whose "job" revolves around
> programming computers most of whom have to develop codebases of their
> predecessors and are stuck with whatever the original designers thought was
> best be it a Plan 9 "mod" or whatever
>
> 7. Abstract computer science programmers, i.e. those who want to test and
> profile right here right now that brand new hybrid of stack, trie, and
> tuatara they've thought up
>
> If Plan 9 is really an OS only for people of types (5) and (6), and some of
> (2), well then my statement is true that "Plan 9 is a 'niche' OS." No one
> should wonder why it isn't more widely used or even remembered in less
> "elite" circles.

Personally, I never wondered.  But I don't really care either.

--
John Stalker
School of Mathematics
Trinity College Dublin
tel +353 1 896 1983
fax +353 1 896 2282