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Re: off off topic: Unix lives or dies?
Gilad Gam
04/15/97 12:28 PM
I have an inferno CD that was given away at Usenix, about 3 months ago. If
anyone is interested, drop me a line.
Gilad.
reln @ cs.huji.ac.il
04/15/97 11:30 AM
Please respond to reln@cs.huji.ac.il
To: iskandar @ EESUN2.tamu.edu
cc: linux-il @ linux.org.il (bcc: Gilad Gam)
Subject: Re: off off topic: Unix lives or dies?
On Mon, 14 Apr 1997, Alexandre Khalil wrote:
> If ATT puts the sources of Plan 9 in the public domain, it will
> certainly become very interesting.
> If that happens, I am sure the Linux folks will plan9ify Linux kernel
> 4.x and make an old-linux compatibility box to run older applications
> inside the new OS.
Last time I heard Plan9 development was discontinued, and a small group
inside AT&T, that developed a variant called Eclipse, took the leading
role. This is unconfirmed.
What should be nice is Inferno from Lucent Technologies (also developed
in Bell Labs). A few excerpts (See http://inferno.lucent.com/inferno/):
What is Inferno?
Inferno(tm) is a new network operating system and programming
environment to deliver content in a rich environment of
heterogenous networks, clients and servers.
Inferno's definitive strength lies in its portability and versatility
across several dimensions:
Portability across processors: it currently runs on Intel, Sparc,
MIPS, ARM, HP-PA, and AMD 29K architectures and is readily portable to
others.
Portability across environments: it runs as a stand-alone operating
system on small terminals, and also as a user application under Windows
NT, Windows 95, Unix (Irix, Solaris, Linux, AIX, HP/UX) and Plan 9. In all
of these environments, Inferno applications see an identical interface.
Distributed design: the identical environment is established at the
user's terminal and at the server, and each may import the resources of
the other; aided by the communications facilities of the run-time system,
applications may be split easily (and even dynamically) between client and
server.
Minimal hardware requirements: it runs useful applications
stand-alone on machines with as little as 1 MB of memory, and does not
require memory-mapping hardware.
Portable applications: Inferno applications are written in the
type-safe language Limbo(tm), whose binary representation is identical
over all platforms.
Dynamic adaptability: applications may, depending on the hardware or
other resources available, load different program modules to perform a
specific function. For example, a video player application might use any
of several different decoder modules.
Regards,
Ariel
--
Ariel Nowersztern Systems Programmer reln@cs.huji.ac.il
Finger for GCode v3.1 Check out http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~reln/
"The best way to keep one's word is not to give it." -- Napoleon Bonaparte