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Why did Plan 9 make namespaces local?
A participant can assemble a resource view that includes remote services.
The same name can belong to different worlds
Plan 9 makes the namespace a process attribute: a process can assemble its resource tree rather than depend only on one fixed global arrangement. The 9P protocol extends file-oriented access to services, many of which are not persistent disk files.
For AFS, the useful question concerns both the resource interface and the environment a participant sees. An author’s example /work may include private notes; a reviewer’s may contain only review tasks. Matching path strings alone does not establish shared identity. Collaboration still needs resource mappings and enforced authority.
Alongside the X Window influence
Unix informs common operations; Plan 9 informs assembled resource views; X Window informs the separation of computation and display. These are connected design influences, not a story in which AFS simply replaces its predecessors.
Small Worlds and AFS projections are not synonyms for implementing 9P. A historical resemblance cannot establish correct isolation or distributed behavior.
Read the original paper: The Use of Name Spaces in Plan 9.
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Why did Plan 9 make namespaces local?
A participant can assemble a resource view that includes remote services.
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