Plan 9: Difference between revisions
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==Compatibility== |
==Compatibility== |
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Plan 9 is not POSIX-compliant, although it shares similarities with POSIX systems. The architects decided to create a new operating system without backwards-compatibility baggage, which allowed them greater freedom in implementing whatever they thought was important. There is, however, a POSIX emulation layer which allows compilation of some POSIX programs. |
Plan 9 is not POSIX-compliant, although it shares similarities with POSIX systems. The architects decided to create a new operating system without backwards-compatibility baggage, which allowed them greater freedom in implementing whatever they thought was important. There is, however, a POSIX emulation layer which allows compilation of some POSIX programs. |
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==External Links== |
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Bell_Labs Wikipedia: Plan 9 from Bell Labs] |
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* [http://plan9.bell-labs.com/plan9/ Plan 9 homepage] |
Revision as of 17:48, 21 June 2008
Plan 9 is an operating system from AT&T's Bell Labs. It was created by the same group which developed UNIX. Their intent was to design a new operating system that incorporated new developments since UNIX's creation, such as networking and graphical user interfaces.
Programming
The kernel is written primarily in C, with a minimum of assembly for greater portability. The user-level applications are mostly in C or the rc shell.
Plan 9 is designed in such a way that the "everything is a file" metaphor extends very well. Network connections can be accessed through /net/tcp, for example, and mouse events are written in plain text to /dev/mouse. Every process has a separate namespace.
Available languages include:
- C (Plan 9 dialect)
- rc
- sh (POSIX emulation)
- Perl
- Python
- Haskell
- Assembly (all platforms share the same syntax; less machine-specific)
Compatibility
Plan 9 is not POSIX-compliant, although it shares similarities with POSIX systems. The architects decided to create a new operating system without backwards-compatibility baggage, which allowed them greater freedom in implementing whatever they thought was important. There is, however, a POSIX emulation layer which allows compilation of some POSIX programs.