Re: [9fans] syscall 53

[lucio@proxima.alt.za]

> i think a key bit to collaboration is going to be setting some ground rules.
> and the most important one imho is having a clear goal.

To keep the ball rolling, let me suggest that we drop the requirement
that Plan 9 be self-contained as a measure to make some progress with
existing expertise.  I wish we could keep Plan 9 as the sole
foundation, but I think that's just not viable, I feel treasonous
suggesting otherwise, but I'm merely stating my sentiments, not
imposing a rule here.

At the same time, the danger that Pyhton-HG-Codeview and web access
all somehow become unviable for the Plan 9 community (who knows,
there's a lot of ugliness out there and, in my opinion, it is
growing), I would like to propose a backup plan to ensure that
developments are tracked outside of the HG.

I used CVS with some success in the past in parallel with HG while Go
for Plan 9 was still in its infancy, but it was a bit of a mission and
I could not sustain it when the transition from "make" to "go-tool"
took place: the changes were coming too thick and fast.  Maybe hiro's
fibre-optic based neural network will make the next efforts succeed (I
restarted the CVS project in an effort to get the ARM developments of
Go for Plan 9 in sync, but three months down the line I'm still
precisely nowhere with that plan).

Something to provide a similar, this time successful, safeguard would
be great, some (including me) would no doubt say essential.  I'd love
to add a new-thought (new-age?) version control system based on venti
and proto to Plan 9 and be the envy of the competition, but it would
be a big project and more pressing issues in Plan 9 have much higher
priority and more likelihood of success, in my opinion.

I think we can all benefit from taking this discussion further, if only
to explore how others are addressing the shortcomings of Plan 9
development and evolution and possibly discover new ways to deal with
our own problems.  No need to get political about it, what we need is
some facts, some good or bad advice, some humour and, because this is
9fans, after all, some conflict.

++L