Plan9 operating system
Shares rank 58 of 87 operating systems by recommenders
Free operating system from Bell Labs built around files, praised for a small, understandable design that people see as superior to Unix.
Free operating system from Bell Labs built around files, praised for a small, understandable design that people see as superior to Unix.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Everything is a file
“you can support anything in the world and use it as a file (both locally and remotely)”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “Forking the Web” “Plan9 carries it out much better: Unix networking isn't file-based, Plan9's is.”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “How many products does Microsoft have named 'Copilot'? I mapped every one” Superior design, validated over time
“We once again discover that Plan9 and UNIX were right.”
Comment from 7 Mar 2026 in “Filesystems Are Having a Moment” “Plan9 is different and it is superior in many ways.”
Comment from 28 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: HALUD YOUR HORSES – a container system to resist Shai-Hulud NPM attacks”
Other operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 87 operating systems, rankedWhat people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'm a fan of the Emacs or Plan9 styles where the keyboard and pointer are able to be used together synergistically.”
“you can support anything in the world and use it as a file (both locally and remotely)”
“even Plan9 and 9front itself can be called a "Unix 2.0"”
“Plan9 carries it out much better: Unix networking isn't file-based, Plan9's is.”
“it does a much, much better job of helping me run my applications in ways that I want”
“We once again discover that Plan9 and UNIX were right.”
“Both are very valuable for studying and experimenting.”
“Plan9 is different and it is superior in many ways.”
“It could be the basis of something supreme.”
“The core of this existed in the Plan9 kernel and the Plan9 kernel is small enough to be understood by one person.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.