Plan 9: Difference between revisions
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[[Category:Operating Systems]]'''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. |
[[Category:Operating Systems]]'''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. |
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==Programming== |
==Programming== |
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Revision as of 20:16, 21 February 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.
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.