Why Plan-9?

[Steve Furlong]

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