From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
From: "Douglas A. Gwyn" <DAGwyn@null.net>
Message-ID: <3BD8D1D4.4687983F@null.net>
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References: <20011025115712.2EF13199B5@mail.cse.psu.edu>
Subject: Re: [9fans] What makes Plan 9 unique?
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 09:25:26 +0000
Topicbox-Message-UUID: 0e3893ee-eaca-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025

Russ Cox wrote:
> ... there is no tty driver in the kernel.  The window system
> handles the nuances of terminal input.

Not for a terminal on a serial port, it doesn't.  Braille terminal
users (for example) are ill-served by embedding interactive support
in a windowing graphics interface.

There have been many "integrated" OSes; for example TI's 900-series
(before the 990) came with an OS that integrated the terminal driver
and consequently supported *only* specific TI video terminals with
special high-speed cabling.  That design probably contributed to the
lack of commercial success for those systems.

There is a lot to be said for keeping system structures as modular
as possible, to increase options for how things can be configured.