You're saying it as if having a bunch of nice ideas that have been practically implemented is a negligible thing. To add on to what a previous commenter said,

You're saying it as if having a bunch of nice ideas that have been practically implemented is a negligible thing. To add on to what a previous commenter said, Plan 9 is proof that Unix's nice ideas are more than a few. In fact, the ultimate irony is that some of the most fascinating OS design has emerged from being more Unix than Unix itself. Plan 9 has also become pretty much the only breath of fresh air from an architectural standpoint in Linux, what with procfs and all.