Re: [9fans] Boot CD chokes

[Lucio De Re <lucio.dere@gmail.com>]

On 12/31/21, hiro <23hiro@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> so instead i learned to be a little bit picky about the hardware
> avoiding having to write drivers for everything that doesn't work.
>
The Lenovo Thinkpad T68 I managed to lay my hands on wasn't that cheap
and came with an Atheros based wi-fi card. So, yes one has to be
picky. I think I can replace the card, but it won't come cheaply. SSD
and memory are a hassle, too.

I've had an HP Pavilion for long enough to wear the lettering on some
popular keys away and only discovered recently that in fact it will
run 9front out of the box. Legacy doesn't seem to support XHCI (USB)
and I have no idea quite how that connects to both the ethernet and
the wi-fi adapters, that's a research project by itself; unlike what I
imagine drives Vic, I like to know that I can complete a task within a
reasonable time and my poor knowledge means little does get
accomplished around here. But I do enjoy the rare achievement when I
get that right (my Plan 9 workstation uses freefonts through fontsrv,
hardly perfect, but I can choose from a very broad range of fonts -
not that I need to, mind you, it's just that I have yet to find a
satisfactory font, Ubuntu comes close).

9atom can shut down all the hardware I boot it on, neither legacy nor
9front can do the same, again, on the hardware I own (and I have some
old stuff lying around). I have little idea how to compare the three
kernels as they have diverged rather significantly, based on the
source code. I do wish I could propagate my preferences into a single
Plan 9 kernel release, I find the divergence very frustrating. Full
disclosure: I don't "run" 9atom on anything.

I can see where 9front has the edge, by quite a margin, and I hesitate
to suggest that it has veered off the Plan 9 tradition to accommodate
the PC complexities, without quite addressing the real objectives of
PC platforms: web browsing, office document handling and gaming. I
don't believe that any descendant of Plan 9 can retain simplicity and
fulfil those needs.

When  it comes to "research", though, specially slightly unfocussed
personal satisfaction type of research, I find legacy - which I have
known since early in the 1990s, I own a 2ed CD set - more true to its
own philosophy.

Like Hiro, I don't for one moment want to chastise 9front users, I can
see why their aims are very different from my own. I am however
entitled to pursue mine, with no need to draw insignificant
comparisons that can so quickly devolve into pissing contests.

Just my perspective. I'd like to hear how Vic sees this kind of cyber
archeology. Or anyone else's views, for that matter.

Lucio.

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