4 ms·

What I find most amazing is how the kernel is more like a file system multiplexer. Its job is to present a file system to each process built from mounting virtu

What I find most amazing is how the kernel is more like a file system multiplexer. Its job is to present a file system to each process built from mounting virtual file systems from all sorts of programs and remote machines. If I want to access files from a remote machine — mount its file system. Want to play my music from my laptop using the speakers connected to my stationary computer — mount its sound card into my device folder. If want to use another machine as a network gateway — I mount its /net. Even the editor acme has its own file system, which makes writing a script doing something fancy in my editor really easy. The file system gives easy access (read/write) to anything from the currently selected text in each window, to the "menu" at the top (called the tag). And if I write a script, it is executed anywhere in acme by middle clicking its name. What makes this all work smoothly is that mounted file systems can overlap, and that each process is presented its own name space. This completely removes the need for symbolic links and unix sockets.

Dewie 12y ago
> What I find most amazing is how the kernel is more like a file system multiplexer. Its job is to present a file system to each process built from mounting virtual file systems from all sorts of programs and remote machines. Wow, that sounds really powerful. I've just read a bit about inter-process communication and sharing in Linux, and that seems like much more of a hassle than this. > Even the editor acme has its own file system, which makes writing a script doing something fancy in my editor really easy. The file system gives easy access (read/write) to anything from the currently selected text in each window, to the "menu" at the top (called the tag). And if I write a script, it is executed anywhere in acme by middle clicking its name. That sounds like it might be the answer (an answer) to something I've been wondering about: how to let another process - outside the editor - have access to the contents of the editor. Like for example synchronizing the editing/viewing of a file, instead of the outside process only using the file stored on the disk, and reloading whenever the editor saves the file. Could one use the file system of Acme to have another process view for example the file that it is being used to edit, in real time? I'm thinking that something like that might be useful for collaborative editing (at the least, letting one person edit the file while the other person watches the editing, maybe in the same kind of editor but hopefully through whichever editor or program that she wishes to use).
- black_knight 12y ago
  Yes. It sounds very much like you want to checkout Acme (and Plan 9). You can test Acme on other operating systems to get an idea. On Linux (or Mac I think), you can even mount the file system using fuse, or access it using a special program called 9p. Here is a video of using Acme, and a port of Plan 9 userspace tools to other systems: • http://research.swtch.com/acme http://research.swtch.com/acme • http://swtch.com/plan9port http://swtch.com/plan9port

Dewie 12y ago

> What I find most amazing is how the kernel is more like a file system multiplexer. Its job is to present a file system to each process built from mounting virtual file systems from all sorts of programs and remote machines. Wow, that sounds really powerful. I've just read a bit about inter-process communication and sharing in Linux, and that seems like much more of a hassle than this. > Even the editor acme has its own file system, which makes writing a script doing something fancy in my editor really easy. The file system gives easy access (read/write) to anything from the currently selected text in each window, to the "menu" at the top (called the tag). And if I write a script, it is executed anywhere in acme by middle clicking its name. That sounds like it might be the answer (an answer) to something I've been wondering about: how to let another process - outside the editor - have access to the contents of the editor. Like for example synchronizing the editing/viewing of a file, instead of the outside process only using the file stored on the disk, and reloading whenever the editor saves the file. Could one use the file system of Acme to have another process view for example the file that it is being used to edit, in real time? I'm thinking that something like that might be useful for collaborative editing (at the least, letting one person edit the file while the other person watches the editing, maybe in the same kind of editor but hopefully through whichever editor or program that she wishes to use).

black_knight 12y ago
Yes. It sounds very much like you want to checkout Acme (and Plan 9). You can test Acme on other operating systems to get an idea. On Linux (or Mac I think), you can even mount the file system using fuse, or access it using a special program called 9p. Here is a video of using Acme, and a port of Plan 9 userspace tools to other systems: • http://research.swtch.com/acme http://research.swtch.com/acme • http://swtch.com/plan9port http://swtch.com/plan9port