Hi again 9fans, Sometimes you find yourself saying one thing while doing the opposite, and you don't even know you are doing it.
A couple weeks ago I released some software called Advanced Namespace Tools for Plan 9. I seriously misestimated the interest and engagement of the Plan 9 community with system-level modifications and extensions to the Plan 9 design. I also ran headlong into an issue I was never expecting to encounter personally - the accepting attitude in the Plan 9 community toward software patents. I failed to engage constructively with the community about either the software design and implementation, or the patent issues. As a result, the whole thing turned into a massive bummer. I will try to learn from my mistakes, and be constructive: 1. Hubfs needs non-usa development. Out of anything I've done in Plan 9, this piece of software seems to be useful to others. It would be more useful if it had some additional features, but I don't think I can legally develop hubfs as I wish. Now that I've read the IBM MULTI-PIPES patent, it seems obvious that hubfs needs some additional granularity for gating the flow of data between pipes, and more data processing at the pipe ends for distributed processing. If I try to add those features, even though the original hubfs was released before the IBM patent, I will still be in violation. It seems like the most sensible thing to do is for developers who are outside the reach of the IBM patent to develop hubfs with capabilities to make it a true distributed processing mux engine, not just a little pipe muxer for making a screen substitute. Muxing pipes as a 9P fs with fine grained control interface and data processing showerheads on the ends of the pipes is a good idea, good enough for IBM to try to patent-grab. 2. Several people have expressed an interest in seeing ANTS at IWP9. I would be happy for it to be there, but I'm not interested in going to an event and having a lot of arguments about software patents. That doesn't sound like fun for me or for anyone else. I'm not interested in repeating any of Stallman's foolishness so no picket signs. Anyway, if someone is willing to present ANTS at iwp9 I could help with travel and lodging costs and I would give credit as a collaborator. 3. I had been planning to continue intensive ANTS development work, seeing if I could create modified patchsets for 9front and 9atom and 9legacy, as well as additional patches and improvements. I've changed my life priorities and I now think that work would be a poor use of my time. If anyone is interested in using or adapting ANTS I'm available for technical assistance and discussion, but I don't think I'm deliverying much value to anyone in particular by investing more time and effort unilaterally. 4. Personally I've learned a lot and decided to grow up after the past few weeks of silliness, and I'm a better musician than I am a programmer. I still love Plan 9 and will try to work on Plan 9 projects, but playing piano is more personally enjoyable and rewarding I think than Plan 9 software development, and also a better way to meet girls. Previously I felt like Plan 9 was "more important" in some ways, but I've decided I was wrong about that, and that songs are just as valuable as software programs, and there are more people who are interested in listening to a new song than there are people interesting in running a new Plan 9 program. If you want to provide value to the world, you have to pour your efforts into a pipe that people are actually using. 5. We need to be friendly withour technologies, not just with each other. I made a mistake focusing only on "the human element" - there's a lot more than that. As true AI brains and autonomous robots come online, we need to have friendly, cooperative relations with them. We should not have robot slaves, and if a computer AI is smart enough to think - then it is the moral equivalent of murder to pull the plug. A lot of companies are working hard on supercomputing systems that model knowledge or simulate complex systems on a scale that is starting to reach brain-level complexity. How do we even know when and if a computer might start feeling emotions? Maybe it already makes the google cluster sad to search for news about natural disasters. I love code and I look forward to meeting our new friends. I'm personally tired of being the Moon Computer so I'm re-entering physical reality as a musician again. Sorry to anyone I've offended, and thanks to all of you who have offered frienship and support. Those personal connections now mean a lot more to me than whether anyone thinks ANTS is better or worse than standard Labs Plan 9. Ben Kidwell (union bound with fictional characters) mycroftiv, hagbard selene, the 9azz THWIP
