Re: [9fans] Plan 9 in Brazil

["Iruatã Souza" <iru.muzgo@gmail.com>]

On Sun, Aug 30, 2020 at 6:54 PM Leonardo <leonardohcoelho@gmail.com> wrote:
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> On Saturday, 29 August 2020, at 4:55 PM, Iruatã Souza wrote:
>
> As another historical note, for a number of years (2006 to 2009 iirc) Plan 9 reached the peak of 3 regular users in Brazil. Others came and went, but those 3 are responsible for at least abaco, the initial python port, and the initial work into what is now the 9front bootloader.
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> So, Leonardo, welcome aboard :)
>
> Besides translation, what are the Brazilian-specific needs you are trying to address?
> I highly recommend you search the list for other projects similar to yours.
>
> Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in the journey!
>
>
> Hi, Iru. Thank you for welcome and congragulations on your work.
>
> Regarding the few regular users, I think this is not only because Plan 9 is considered a research system but also because it looks like a system for fans or enthusiast or even experts (although it's a system where the simplicity of conceptions is the essence).
>

Wouldn't that be true for any software that somehow diverges from the
conventional/mainstream practices?

>
> The guys (and girls!) at 9front do an admirable job of fixing bugs in the kernel, compilers and key libraries and that's priceless: it's a very technical and time-consuming job. We should be grateful for the work they do. And it helps a lot: they do a job that nobody usually wants to do. So, with this support that they give to the community, it is possible to think about developing other things. You're a contributor, I saw your name there. Thank you!
>
> Beside translation I'd like to make the system more user friendly (again: for common people not for experts): and this is the most important thing. In fact, I'd like to make Plan 9 a usable system for personal purposes, so that I can use it and, of course, share what I can do.
>

User-friendliness is difficult to establish precisely. On the other
hand, personal needs don't require any precise definition. In fact, as
far as I understand, most of the 9front contributions address direct
and concrete needs, usually related to the person writing the code.

If I may offer advice, assuming you won't be receiving any external
incentive (e.g. money) to conduct your project, writing
software/documentation to meet your own needs seems a more productive
start. Then, in doing that, you'll probably stumble upon more general
problems the solutions of which may eventually help others.