[9fans] native limbo

["kazumi iwane" <kiwane@dream.com>]

Hello 9fans,

The idea of having native limbo appeals to me, too. There seem to be
various degrees of nativeness people are talking about, though; some
see limbo as yet another language to write apps on plan9, others as
an integral part of inferno. I 'd be happy with the scenario "2" below.

1) a limbo compiler that produces plan9 native executables

Modules that access plan9 services must be written, probably taking
every advantage of native environment rather than trying to conform to
inferno's module layout. Limbo apps would speak 9p instead of styx,
too. A reincarnation of alef, really, and I fear the same fate might await.

2) a dis interpreter and plan9 native modules

Similar to 1), but modules and apps in dis binary. Thanks to Vita Nuova,
there already is a limbo-to-dis compiler on plan9 (right? don't know how
inferno/emu-dependent it is, though). You'd invoke a dis interpreter,
which would provide gc, syscall i/f and whatnot, to execute limbo apps.

3) Inferno Compatibility Environment (ICE)

Together with 2), in a manner and spirit similar to APE, it might be
possible to create a set of compatibility modules for inferno, using all
the namespace tricks and a 9p-styx gateway. But this *is* what emu
is all about, I guess...

4) a complete inferno environment *without emu*

No idea if/how this is possible, but I guess this is what some people
are after.

P.S.
No pun intented on the subject line, really.

- kazumi