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Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:40:31 +0800
From: W B Hacker <wbh@conducive.org>
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To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net>
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	<40cda7cd696b5db56dc50b9127f88f61@ladd.quanstro.net>
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Subject: Re: [9fans] Scanners
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erik quanstrom wrote:
>> 'export/import' applied to remote resources - especially 'scarce' or expensive
>> ones (sound cards no longer are..) that could *send back* the results might make
>> a better present-day example.
>
> the resource i want is generally particuarly scarce;
> there is often just one device that will do.
>
> i often import the aoe device of a machine on a
> storage network, for example.  i think thinking
> that all doo-dads with capability x are equivalent
> is a mistake, or a misunderstanding of "capability".

There you go.  A better example, IMNSHO, than SB16-equiv.

And there just *have to be*  another dozen 'modern' examples lying about.. taken
for granted by 9fans perhaps - but there's the rub...

Hiding a whole light-show under a bushel, if you will.

...meanwhile, other newcomers are involved in reinventing the networking,
clustering, 'sharing' capability - and not necessarily all that well - that
Plan9 started life with...

>
>> I'm well aware that 'marketing' Plan9 is not really on anyone's radar here ..
>> but there could be a bit more done to convey the availability and value to the
>> like-minded potential fellow-travelers [1]. One benefit might include more
>> current device driver import/devel..
>
> funny you should mention that.
>
> - erik
>
>

Sad to say, all the drivers I have ever written were in octal, ASM, or LMI Forth
(with ncc), so I'm not in any way 'current' myself.

But it IS a bit frustrating to see drivers available in one F/OSS OS (or
variant) and not another, more especially as they are nearly always written in
reasonably portable 'C' code these many years.

Reality is that the rate of introduction/change of hardware/silicon is too fast
for any small - or even 'medium sized' team (FreeBSD for example) to keep up
with on their own... and that gap is widening.

Bill