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  1. .TL
  2. Preface to the Fourth (2002) Edition
  3. .LP
  4. Plan 9 continues to grow and adapt.
  5. The fourth major release of the system
  6. incorporates a number of changes, but the most central
  7. is the conversion to a new version of the 9P file system
  8. protocol.
  9. This new version was motivated by a desire to support
  10. files with name elements longer than 27 bytes (the old
  11. .CW NAMELEN ),
  12. but the opportunity was taken to change a number of other things
  13. about the protocol,
  14. making it more efficient, more flexible, and easier to encapsulate.
  15. One simple but indispensable new feature made possible by the protocol
  16. change is that the system now records the user who last modified a file;
  17. try
  18. .CW ls
  19. .CW -m
  20. to identify the culprit.
  21. .LP
  22. Many aspects of system security have been improved.
  23. The new security agent
  24. .I factotum (4)
  25. maintains user passwords, while
  26. .I secstore (4)
  27. keeps them safe and enables single sign-on to multiple domains and machines
  28. using a variety of secure protocols and services.
  29. .LP
  30. Throughout the system, components have been rewritten and interfaces
  31. modified to eliminate restrictions, improve performance, and clarify design.
  32. The full list is too long to include here, but significant changes have occurred
  33. in a number of system calls
  34. .I wait (2), (
  35. .I stat (2),
  36. .I mount (2),
  37. and
  38. .I errstr (2)),
  39. the thread library
  40. .I thread (2)), (
  41. formatted printing
  42. .I print (2) (
  43. and
  44. .I fmtinstall (2)),
  45. security
  46. (many pages in section 2, including
  47. .I auth (2),
  48. .I authsrv (2)),
  49. and many others.
  50. .LP
  51. The changes are sweeping and are accompanied by many new programs, tools,
  52. services,
  53. and libraries.
  54. See the manual pages and the accompanying documents for more information.
  55. .LP
  56. .sp
  57. .in 3i
  58. Bell Labs
  59. .br
  60. Computing Science Research Center
  61. .br
  62. Murray Hill NJ
  63. .br
  64. April, 2002