>> That would break the protocol stack. 9P is an application layer protocol (or >> so I understand). It should _never_ see, or worse rewrite, network layer >> data units. If by "a fileserver on top of that" you actually mean a file >> server under that then you simply are re-inventing NAT. > > Putting a file server over /net which selectively allows access to the > underlying /net. There it can monitor data at the application (not > transport) level.
yes. it's worth pointing out that networking in plan 9 is all done with 9p to network devices. (or isomorphic chan functions) in fact the ip stack has been in user space. also, since dial takes care of connection-making, one can replace ip with something completely different without changing any applications. (i did some experiments with a non-ip stack earlier this year. no applications were harmed. or even recompiled.) mounting a proxy server that fiddles packets does work. however, none of this will help bring nat to a windows box. windows boxes are well-known for not being able to import /net. - erik
