Sunder wrote:
Why Plan-9? I'd say go with OpenBSD. :) Built in crypto, built in firewall, secure on installation without you needing to tweak stuff. Hell you can even tell it to encrypt swap pages.
I'd really like to use OBSD for my always-on server, but there are a few shortcomings. - New Java stuff: I need to have Java servlets, JSP, and all that rot available from my web site, and last time I tried, a few months ago, the new Java stuff just wasn't there yet. Eighty-five step installation procedure which either didn't work quite right or was too much for my tiny brain. (The procedure was actually for FBSD, but it didn't work there, either, so the chances of getting it working on OBSD were negligible.) - Encrypted file systems: I want my main server to have TCFS or equivalent, so if the machine is seized the feebs would see a tiny boot partition and a large, strongly-encrypted main partition. I tried a few encrypted file systems a while back, and the couple I found for OBSD weren't there yet, either; they typically dumped core when I tried to use them. (I see that Dr Evil posted a message on this subject last May on a list archived at Geocrawler, so I guess the shortcoming hasn't been fixed since I last looked at it in depth.) (Yes, in theory I can work on either of these myself, but in practice I'm already involved in two free projects and just can't spread any thinner.) Out-of-the-box OBSD seems less crackable than out-of-the-box Linux and I'd like to use it, but it just doesn't have the two features I really want. For now, I'll take my chances on securing my Linux server as best I can. -- Steve Furlong Computer Condottiere Have GNU, Will Travel 617-670-3793 "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly while bad people will find a way around the laws." -- Plato