From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 14:27:58 +0000 From: Conway Yee Message-ID: References: <39B4C71E.CEA88DDB@ysbl.york.ac.uk> Subject: [9fans] Re: Kernighan interview (w/ Plan 9 mention) Topicbox-Message-UUID: 0373856e-eac9-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 Leo Caves writes: > Arguably, Linux transitioned from its hobbyist niche > to a wider acceptance through a server role. The effort now > seems to be back to the desktop. > > Its difficult to tell in what way Plan 9 might make such a transition. I would argue that such a transition will likely never take place. First, there is usually only room for 1 "killer app" in the market and Linux has already taken up that role. Second, who can forget the litigation over NET/2? Anyone who contributes with the intent of transitioning to a server role will eventually have to deal with ATT's lawyers. I believe that the engineers/scientists at ATT are honorable but are their lawyers? Third, as it stands, Plan 9's license is hardly appropriate to those who would run it for serious applications. Who wants to take the risk of having ATT own your application? Conway Yee