On Thu, Jun 05, 2025 at 02:42:12PM +0200, Daniel Maslowski via 9fans wrote:
> Hey fans,
>
> Here's the voice from the abyss.
>[...]
>
> Now there are multiple graphics systems and desktop stacks to choose from,
> the usual X vs Wayland and KDE vs GNOME vs Xfce vs maybe just i3/Sway
> choice. I pick i3/Sway because it fits my needs, and that is where that
> discussion ends. Coincidentally, they have strong roots in Plan 9, and they
> did this one thing: improve a lot.
>
This is one part (the windowing system) that brought me more back
on Plan9.
MS Windows is unusable nowadays because they think that the customer
is the product and that their OS is just there to gather informations
and try to place ads---even on the "Pro" version, paid for!!!!
On the X11 side, everything is crumbling. The "old" X11 code is dying.
They are numerous starts for replacement and already dead-ends and the
GPUs are still a terra incognita that doesn't fit well with the
kernels. And the size of the related code is daunting.
So when it comes to windowing systems, Rio or Lola have nothing to be
ashamed of since all the others have failed.
Now, for the: Plan9 anywhere.
I remember that back in the early 90s, the PC was simply a "generic"
device running with in fact a BIOS (DOS, DOS extender) used to
dedicate the machine to some main application.
Now that a SoC is litterally only tens of euros/dollars, dedicating a
device (I mean for work or for doing mainly one thing) to one
application should be considered again.
Like many others I think, since I'm getting old, I have parents who
are quite aged. They only use a "computer" for a couple of things,
always the same. And they manage, clicking at random because their
sight is not that good, or because they do not understand the
messages, or because the PC takes too long to start, or because they do
not grasp elaborate "gestures", or because they are
physically unable to make precise enough mouvements of the hand or of
the fingers, etc. because of all of this, they manage to unset
paramaters, make things disappear and so on. And to try to help
remotely with an "explanation" of the problem that stresses
imagination and probabilities, is nothing to be encouraged for people
who want to keep the blood pressure low.
The users should face dedicated applications and don't have to see or
choose the system that is underneath to manage the resources.
Plan9 has, for me, a future also there.
So Plan9 could be like God (for the believers; I'm not): everywhere
while nobody can ever see Him.
BTW: The 3D Glenda is here, near the screen, on my desk, and I'm
really fond of it! Reassuring sight.
--
Thierry Laronde <tlaronde +AT+ kergis +dot+ com>
http://www.kergis.com/
http://kertex.kergis.com/
Key fingerprint = 0FF7 E906 FBAF FE95 FD89 250D 52B1 AE95 6006 F40C
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