1*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<html> 2*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<title> 3*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierpreface 4*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</title> 5*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<body BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#330088" ALINK="#FF0044"> 6*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<H1>Preface to the Second (1995) Edition 7*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</H1> 8*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<P> 9*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierPlan 9 was born in the same lab where Unix began. 10*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierOld Unix hands will recognize the cultural heritage in this manual, 11*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierwhere venerable Unix commands live on, 12*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierdescribed in the classic Unix style. Underneath, though, lies 13*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiera new kind of system, organized around communication and 14*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiernaming rather than files and processes. 15*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</P> 16*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<P> 17*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierIn Plan 9, distributed computing is a central premise, 18*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiernot an evolutionary add-on. The system relies on a 19*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombieruniform protocol to refer to and communicate 20*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierwith objects, whether they be data or processes, and whether or 21*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiernot they live on the same machine or even similar machines. 22*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierA single paradigm (writing to named places) unifies 23*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierall kinds of control and interprocess signaling. 24*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</P> 25*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<P> 26*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierName spaces can be built arbitrarily. In particular all 27*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierprograms available to a given user are customarily united 28*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierin a single logical directory. 29*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierTemporary files and 30*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombieruntrusted activities can be confined in isolated spaces. 31*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierWhen a portable machine connects to the 32*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiercentral, archival file system, the machine's local 33*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiername space is joined smoothly to that of the archival file system. 34*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierThe architecture affords other unusual abilities, including: 35*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</P> 36*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL> 37*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DT><DT> <DD> 38*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierObjects in name spaces imported from other machines (even from 39*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierforeign systems such as MS-DOS) are transparently accessible. 40*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DT><DT> <DD> 41*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierWindows appear in name spaces on a par with files and processes. 42*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DT><DT> <DD> 43*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierA historical file system allows one to navigate 44*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierthe archival file system in time as well as in space; 45*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierbackup files are always at hand. 46*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DT><DT> <DD> 47*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierA debugger can handle simultaneously active processes 48*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombieron disparate kinds of hardware. 49*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</dl> 50*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<P> 51*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierThe character set of Plan 9 is Unicode, which 52*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiercovers most of the world's major scripts. 53*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierThe system has its own programming languages: 54*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiera dialect of C with simple inheritance, a simplified shell, 55*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierand a CSP-like concurrent language, Alef. 56*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierAn ANSI-POSIX emulator (APE) admits unreconstructed Unix code. 57*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</P> 58*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<P> 59*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierPlan 9 is the work of many people. 60*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierThe protocol was begun by Ken Thompson; naming 61*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierwas integrated by Rob Pike and networking by Dave Presotto. 62*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierPhil Winterbottom simplified the management of name spaces 63*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierand re-engineered the system. 64*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierThey were joined by Tom Killian, Jim McKie, and Howard Trickey in 65*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierbringing the system up on various machines and making 66*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierdevice drivers. 67*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierThompson made the C compiler; 68*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierPike, window systems; 69*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierTom Duff, the shell and raster graphics; 70*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierWinterbottom, Alef; 71*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierTrickey, Duff, and Andrew Hume, APE. 72*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierBob Flandrena ported a myriad of 73*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierprograms to Plan 9. 74*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierOther contributors include 75*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierAlan Berenbaum, 76*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierLorinda Cherry, 77*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierBill Cheswick, 78*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierSean Dorward, 79*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierDavid Gay, 80*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierPaul Glick, 81*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierEric Grosse, 82*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierJohn Hobby, 83*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierGerard Holzmann, 84*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierBrian Kernighan, 85*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierBart Locanthi, 86*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierDoug McIlroy, 87*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierJudy Paone, 88*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierSean Quinlan, 89*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierBob Restrick, 90*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierDennis Ritchie, 91*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierBjarne Stroustrup, 92*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierand 93*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierCliff Young. 94*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</P> 95*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<P> 96*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierPlan 9 is made available as is, without formal support, but 97*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombiersubstantial comments or contributions may be communicated to 98*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombierthe authors. 99*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<br> <br> 100*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 101*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 102*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 103*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 104*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 105*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 106*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 107*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<DL><DT><DD> 108*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierDoug McIlroy 109*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<br> 110*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierMarch, 1995 111*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier 112*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</P> 113*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<br> <br> 114*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier<A href=http://www.lucent.com/copyright.html> 115*7dd7cddfSDavid du ColombierCopyright</A> © 2000 Lucent Technologies Inc. All rights reserved. 116*7dd7cddfSDavid du Colombier</body></html> 117