Quoth matthpmore...@gmail.com:
Hello. I just found out about Plan 9 and I'm trying to understand more. I see that 9front is often called a fork of Plan 9. However, reading the FAQ and the 9front wiki, the authors seem to often "conflate" both. I mean, I don't really understand what's written, but it's like the instructions for some stuff isn't really meant specifically for 9front, but rather Plan 9.
Much stuff works the same in both.
Besides that, reading what's different in 9front from Plan 9, it mentions drivers and programs. That makes me think that while 9front is called a fork, it doesn't really differ from Plan 9 in how it works and is structured,
Both have sources in /sys/src. On top of that, much of the 9front source descents from Plan 9. And indeed, 9front is close to Plan 9 in how it can be used.
much like a Linux distro may change some things about the Linux kernel, but in essence they're the same and easily interoperable. Is that right?
A Linux distro seldom changes “some things” about the kernel. A custom configuration maybe, but little major and nothing that stops you from using a custom kernel or a kernel compiled on and for a different operating system (distro, if you will). That’s the one piece of software they all share: Linux.
An operating system using Linux just uses upstream Linux or at least keeps up with upstream, if it has its own /fork/. 9front doesn’t have an upstream with which it could keep up. Plan 9 is dead and 9front is alive.
I know it's subjective, but a fork implies to me that the goals and methods of the forking developers are different from the original software, maybe eventually leading to a completely contrasted software, with different environment, tools and inner workings, like Android is to Linux. That's why I wanted to clarify this question.
You keep mixing things up. Android is not a fork of Linux. A fork of Linux by the Android project might be. And that fork, albeit heavily patched, still /has/ an upstream.
9front is a fork of Plan 9. Plan 9 is an operating system; 9front is an operating system. 9front will feel quite similar to Plan 9 in a lot of ways. Many tools and inner workings are the same (with bugfixes and working on more hardware and also otherwise better). You could argue that the goals and methods of 9front are different from Plan 9, but that has little to do with what constitutes a fork.
9front was forked off Plan 9, so it’s a fork. Little about that is subjective.
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