• aida@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        something you can’t do or any inconvenience on this system?

        • bubstance@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
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          5 months ago

          Oh sure, lots of things are “inconvenient” on Plan 9.

          Of note for most would-be users: if you rely on a modern web browser like Firefox/Chrome, forget about it. Never going to happen.

          It’s important to remember that Plan 9 is fundamentally a research operating system; it’s not really a “typical” environment by any stretch, and that stems largely from it being entirely network-based and distributed. A single Plan 9 system in isolation can only be so interesting. Using it on a laptop like this can be an entirely different set of problems.

          If you’d like some examples of things you may face:

          • booting can be slow

          • can be intimidating to set up for some of the more important features – factotum(4) and secstore(1), new users, etc.

          • cwfs is slow

          • hjfs is really slow

          • no multi-monitor support

          • only recently did we get a filesystem that specifically aims to be crash-safe

          • poor documentation, though it’s been getting better

          • reading research papers is basically a requirement for understanding the system

          • security is not a priority

          For me, though? I genuinely don’t need much more than what’s available in the base system.