Love the tailpiece! Rustic simplicity at its finest.

mail(1) or nedmail(1) is all I really need.

I prefer mutt/neomutt, but Thunderbird comes by default in basically every desktop-oriented distro I regularly interact with, so I end up using that most often on *nix. K-9 if I want it on my phone.

My true love is the combination of acme(1) and faces(1), but that doesn’t do encryption/PGP stuff.

You are correct and this can be seen in some of the old AT&T demos from the '80s floating around on YouTube. There is even a chart that specifically labels a directory like /usr/bwk as the user’s home.

Plan 9 also uses this old convention; users live under /usr and there is no /home.

I always enable disk encryption, but I wonder why Linux doesn’t support secure boot and TPM based encryption ( I know that Ubuntu has plans for the later that’s why I’m considering it rn )

There is at least one that, as of recently, offers both out of the box: OpenSUSE Aeon. In fact, TPM-based encryption is now mandatory.

It’s rolling—based on OpenSUSE Tumbleweed—and atomic.

I need something that keeps things updated and adobts newer standards fast ( that’s why I picked Fedora KDE in the first place ), I also use lots of graphical tools and video editing software, so I need the proprietary Nvidia drivers

This could be another point in Aeon’s favor: it uses a combination of Flatpaks and Distrobox, meaning you can use software from basically any distribution you desire—including from, say, Arch’s AUR.

I’ll warn you ahead of time: Aeon and its developer are very opinionated. It’s basically one person’s idea of what makes “the best desktop Linux system,” and those are Richard’s words, not mine. It is also currently still in the release candidate stage.

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I use it because it’s truly a “complete system” in a way that Linux and even the BSDs are not—every program is an example in itself and it comes with a ton of various scratch-built utilities that you don’t usually find as part of a typical Linux distro. Stuff like a basic torrent or IRC client just sort of fall out of the way Plan 9 is organized and implemented.

It also provides me with a distraction-free environment and a set of tools that I enjoy using, even if some aspects of Plan 9 as, say, a laptop daily driver are inconvenient or awkward. It really is better suited for networked computing.

I was pretty much sold from first contact because Plan 9 is the way that I feel best matches what I’ve always wanted from my machines: a simple grid of networked appliances where I can route the various resources and hardware in whatever way I require.

I already do.

There are dozens of us! Dozens!

That’s not a photo of Dennis Ritchie, that’s Brian Kernighan.

Perhaps just PNU?

Oh sure, lots of things are “inconvenient” on Plan 9.

Of note for most would-be users: if you rely on a modern web browser like Firefox/Chrome, forget about it. Never going to happen.

It’s important to remember that Plan 9 is fundamentally a research operating system; it’s not really a “typical” environment by any stretch, and that stems largely from it being entirely network-based and distributed. A single Plan 9 system in isolation can only be so interesting. Using it on a laptop like this can be an entirely different set of problems.

If you’d like some examples of things you may face:

• booting can be slow

• can be intimidating to set up for some of the more important features – factotum(4) and secstore(1), new users and directories under /, etc.

• cwfs is slow

• hjfs is really slow

• no multi-monitor support

• only recently did we get a filesystem that specifically aims to be crash-safe

• poor documentation, though it’s been getting better

• reading research papers is basically a requirement for understanding the system

• security is not a priority

For me, though? I genuinely don’t need much more than what’s available in the base system.

Indeed.

9front comes with two browsers out of the box: abaco and mothra. There is also a port of NetSurf as well as both gopher and gemini browsers.

But of course! Real hardware or bust.

This particular machine has been my daily driver for months now, so I would say it is faring quite well.

• machine: ThinkPad T420

• os: ⑨front

  • auth+cpu+file on encrypted cwfs

• wm: rio + riow

• programs:

  • aux/statusmsg

  • bar

  • clock

  • faces

  • stats

  • zuke

• wallpaper

For those interested in learning more about Plan 9 and trying it out in a public environment: SDF Public Access UNIX System is hosting their seasonal Plan 9 Boot Camp starting June 20th. Feel free to drop into com and say hello!

Well now, don’t I feel stupid. I never really bother messing with customizing the desktop layout nor do I use Cinnamon regularly, so I somehow must have just glossed right over that option. She only mentioned it one time in passing and had already gotten over it by that point.

Thanks!

Firstly, don’t go out of your way to try and convince or force people, but TL;DR – if you have an opportunity and want to give someone a solid start, my recommendation is always Linux Mint.

My mother asked me to switch her in September 2022. Some bad Windows Defender definitions update started triggering warnings every 5 minutes starting at 2AM or something riduculous. I got a frantic call to come over because of “someone hacking her computer” fully expecting to just fix whatever was busted and move on with my day.

After a conversation, I installed LMDE for her and set up automatic updates plus Timeshift. She has had exactly two problems since then:

• she forgets that the scanner isn’t accessed by right-clicking the printer’s tray icon and messing with settings

• she didn’t like that she can’t move desktop icons to wherever she wants

She was also just about the easiest switch there could have been. Like many older folks, her primary use for her desktop is web/email and she has already been using Firefox/Thunderbird since the '00s.