As you'll have noticed, it isn't a great protocol as it stands. I don't think your option makes it worse.

Thanks for the detailed discussion. I think at least one existing system already does what you say, using the -m option ([just] mount, skipping the tree spec),

and if you were to use that in a patch to sources, then eventually that private change could be eliminated.

Note that in your example

with the existing import you don't need to specify the (now unused) somefiles. If I write {import system /net} it sends "/net" as the tree by default.

I think all you'd need to do to make the option tidier is to reject the case argc == 3 in the relevant switch if the option is set. Then you could write

(changing the option letter):

        import -m tcp!server!9876 /n/authedimport

which reads as import by mounting the 9P service on the given connection on the given mount point. It's otherwise a little strange to have an

argument (your "somefiles") that's completely ignored.

As you say, this could also reasonably be an option to srv to authenticate its connection to a remote exportfs, but the fewer commands that know

this particular protocol, the better, and both import and exportfs already do that.