[1] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

plan 9
     
         named after the classically bad,
        exceptionally low-budget sf film "plan 9 from outer space" an
        operating system developed at bell labs by many
        researchers previously intimately involved with unix.
     
        plan 9 is superficially unix-like but features far finer
        control over the name-space on a per-process basis and is
        inherently distributed and scalable.
     
        plan 9 is divided according to service functions.  cpu servers
        concentrate computing power into large multiprocessors; file
        servers provide repositories for storage and terminals give
        each user of the system a dedicated computer with bitmap
        screen and mouse on which to run a window system.  the sharing
        of computing and file storage services provides a sense of
        community for a group of programmers, amortises costs and
        centralises and hence simplifies management and
        administration.
     
        the pieces communicate by a single protocol, built above a
        reliable data transport layer offered by an appropriate
        network, that defines each service as a rooted tree of files.
        even for services not usually considered as files, the unified
        design permits some simplification.  each process has a local
        file name space that contains attachments to all services the
        process is using and thereby to the files in those services.
        one of the most important jobs of a terminal is to support its
        user's customised view of the entire system as represented by
        the services visible in the name space.
     
        documentation ftp://plan9.att.com/dist/plan9doc/ an ftp
        server running plan 9.
     
     
see also:
operating system bell labs unix name-space lt;documentationgt; 

Game Plan >> G Words
Game Plan, definition of term: Game Plan
game+plan_pag1.html

Floor Plan >> F Words
Floor Plan, definition of term: Floor Plan
floor+plan_pag1.html

American Plan >> A Words
American Plan, definition of term: American Plan
american+plan_pag1.html