[hoopladler]

Actually, I can kinda see the advantages there - but isn't insanity just a natural result of trying to work in lots of contexts?

I mean, consider something like vim. It's a nice program, well designed - but undoubtedly insane, just because it's supposed to work in every imaginable context.

It strikes me that plan9 wouldn't be immune to the same phenomenon.

[arghwhat]

It is all about keeping the OS sane to give the users and applications a chance to be sane, rather than causing madness from the get-go.

However, if the system permits arbitrary applications to be executed (which plan9 does), then it cannot be shielded from madness. Proof: plan9 has a POSIX compatibility layer (APE), a vt100 terminal emulator and a vim port. It even has an aging full-on linux emulator. I think it could run a really old version of Firefox, but the memory is vague. People swear by Mothra these days anyway.

[henesy]

It also has a virtual machine system down served by vmx(1) http://man.cat-v.org/9front/1/vmx.

[arghwhat]

That's new. Haven't used 9front for a while.