So I went out to make my own cluster and realized that no, sadly, the author simply did not activate nor configure the other machines at all.
I still love plan 9 and still use it on the occasion, but I'd love more detail on how to actually set up a plan9 cluster and really 'get into' the power of distributed computing.
As for me this keyboard doesn't seem futuristic at all. It reminds me of the first computer I experienced in my life.[1]
I mean, it is lovely keyboard, I really like it. Just "futuristic" is a strange way to describe it. It would be even more nice, if some keys of bright colors were added. Like in MK-61[2]. Though photo in wikipedia doesn't capture it (or maybe my memory is wrong), but those blue key was of a so beautiful shade, I really loved it in my childhood and was eager to learn how to use MK-61 just for a joy of using this very key. Yellow and red keys were also likeable but not so much, moreover the function of red key was trivial and I lost interest to it very quickly. But the blue key was beautiful and mysterious... My first love. Maybe I became a programmer due to color of this key.
Presumably through Vortex'[0] similarity to the Symbolics PN 365407[1][2] keyboard, with its very distinctive design that manages to capture at once both futurism and timelessness.
Disregard the 2020's clunky cherry switch keyboards, acquire the OG Best Keyboard.
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[0] https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/images/products/large_V...
[1] http://xahlee.info/kbd/symbolics_keyboard_pn_365407.html
[2] http://coder.zoomquiet.top/data/20130716102310/index.html
For a cluster, you'll usually have a cwfs/hjfs (persistent storage) server, a faktotum (auth) server, and one or more CPU servers, and possibly a terminal machine.
You can then freely use or connect to CPU servers. As everything is shared, and the GUI is also file-based, everything will feel local.
Not in what concerns graphics rendering performance.
But beware, these are cheap Chinese monitors available from alibaba company jwell (cheaper but with bad display) so be prepared for a bad experience with the remote.
On the upside, these monitors have Composite (for use with older computers) and can be powered by 12v (span 9-33v, not tested though)!
Any used PC/NUC/Intel Atom board is much, much faster and some cost around the same.
The Raspberry 4 at 1 Gflops/watt is a better option if you want to power the thing with lead acid batteries as backup power for more than 24 hours.
Also Raspberry 4 can be cooled passively with a smaller heatsink so the total size and weight is less.
The person probably enjoyed doing it, most likely didn’t harm anyone in the process, and possibly learnt some things on the road.
Not everything need to be useful beyond the joy of doing it.
Is there any setup required in software for the actual cluster? It looks like there are 4 Pis all running a Pi Plan 9 image, and they're wired together via ethernet. But where is the software setup to link them all together? Or does this just happen automatically on Plan 9?
For reference https://micro.mu/blog/2019/12/05/building-a-microservices-ne...
Maximum lengths are easy to understand because of voltage drops, interference and impedance over long distances. And of course in the old CSMA/CD days multiple senders couldn't be separated by too large a distance.
