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Retro OS/Technology, (sdf.org), 10/11/2018
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I mentioned installing plan9 (in the form of 9front) in a vm
last night[1]. While playing with it this morning, I
realized that I had "elected the way of pain" [2].
Clearly, this OS is designed for a very peculiar bunch.
That's OK, the world doesn't revolve around me. It's an
education experiment and an exercise, not a product. And I
was warned up front that it was not for me[3]; though the
assertion that the lack of a web browser has anything to do
with that is absurd and offensive*.
(Speaking of offensive, what's with the racism in /lib/terry?
Is there some purpose to leaving that in there? Is it just
one more way to piss people off who try plan9/9front?)
I kind of feel like they should have mentioned that the OS
might not be for anyone who isn't a disused, egocentric
Bell Labs sycophant. There's a very strong "up yours" vibe
in pretty much everything I read, and every exercise I
complete. It's as if they're saying "this is your punishment
for trying out plan9." If I had offered some grant money,
I'm sure I would have received a better warning before I got
into this.
Believe me, I wanted to enjoy my little plan9 experience. I
love obscure operating systems and old technology. But this
is just antagonistic in so many needless ways. If I wasn't
so stubborn, I'd delete the VM right now... but, I have
elected the way of pain, and I must see it through until I
can cast this monstrosity into the fires of my own personal
Mt. Doom.
* Note: 9front does ship with a browser, abaco, and another
called mothra, which work well enough, even though neither
one supports gopher. The lesson here is, don't read the FQA's
because they'll lie to you. It's part of the plan9 fun.
[1]
gopher://sdf.org:70/0/users/tfurrows/phlog/2018/aeq_plan9.txt
[2]
gopher://grex.org:70/0/~tfurrows/art/ascii/way_of_pain80.txt
[3]
http://fqa.9front.org/fqa0.html#0.1.3
