> I could run a headless box as a Plan9 auth/cpu, fs server. > Then, if I > want to this Plan9 server, is there a minimum Plan9 install > that I > could put on the spare partition that I have?
With this setup available, there are several ways you can go. As a lot of people have suggested, you can install a cpu/auth/fs server on the headless machine and use drawterm to be a terminal talking to him. An even more Plan9-like way of doing it is to net-boot a Plan9 terminal from your cpu/auth/fs machine. If you want to boot your main box that way, you can without installing anything on it. >From within Linux, you can do the same thing in virtualbox. In fact, I have a virtualbox terminal running right now on my machine. It's net booted, taking its Plan9 kernel from a Plan9 machine that provides DHCP service and it mounts its root from a Ken FS machine. At home, I use 9vx taking its root from a Plan9 fossil/venti file server. > for a long time: a 486DX running FreeBSD as a mailserver; > another > running as a webserver; another couple running primary and > slave > nameservers; and one dual-homed FreeBSD box routing and > doing > firewall/natd. The only problem you'd run into there is that Plan9 doesn't currently have a NAT implementation. > The above sounds like a job for Plan9 :) But my point is - > is that I > don't need to set up a LAN to enjoy Linux or FreeBSD. Can I > use Plan9 > standalone in a dedicated partition? Yes, the default install from the CD sets up a stand-alone machine. And for most of us, that's the starting point from which we configure any specialized machines such as cpu, auth, or file servers. And you can get a pretty good feel for what Plan9 is about with a stand-alone machine. However, some parts of the system make a lot more sense when you experience them in a networked environment. Auth is a good example of this. But whichever path(s) you take, I hope you'll find Plan9 is a great system, just as we do. BLS
