> a) It seems that the potential of namespaces can be exposed only when > using a distributed environment with multiple machines (CPU servers, > file servers, terminals, etc.). Can I get a feeling about what a > namespace is in practice if I only own a single system installed on a > virtual machine?
false. the system would not function without namespaces. for example, a search path is usually not used. bin is constructed from several underlying directories; often /$objtype/bin /rc/bin $home/bin/$objtype $home/bin/rc. the same goes for the construction of /dev. /dev is constructed from a number of file servers, such as #c. #P, #$, #S, #r, #i, #m, #v, #u, #t, #©, #æ. there's no reason you can't write a user-level file system that provides a "device" that lives in /dev. ramfs is simple, but perhaps the most consistently useful example. ramfs mounts a ram disk on /tmp. then you can scribble away, and when you're done, you can just delete the window, or unmount /tmp. you can run many independent ramfs at once. > b) I know that Limbo is mostly used in Inferno, but is Alef or Limbo > used in any parts of the native Plan 9? According to wikipedia (http:// > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alef_%28programming_language%29) the Alef parts > were rewritten in C. true. - erik
