From the Deepest Depths of Hell

I must admit, it was largely the rather intriguing name of this operating system that made me want to know more about it and conduct more research on it. I had come across it on one of my quite common internet trips, wherein I simply hop from one hyperlink to the next, trying to discover something interesting — or, perhaps more accurately, something obscure. Frequently these trips end unsatisfactorily; yet this time, luck seems to have been on my side, for I was finally able to uncover something interesting — why, even mysterious. I am of course speaking of the Inferno operating system created by the renowned Bell Labs in 1996.

They had previously worked on Plan 9 from Bell Labs — why they felt the need to add the “from Bell Labs” portion is, unfortunately, beyond me — which, just as Inferno, has largely fallen into obscurity. It is now just to be found in the dark and long forgotten and abandoned corners of the web that seem to be frozen in time, containing information and discussions from days long past; that are held aloft simply by someone continuing to pay for server bills. It’s a pity, really, how large amounts of information can simply vanish from the world by someone — perhaps quite literally — pulling the plug.

Plan 9 — as I will be calling it henceforth, ignoring the from Bell Labs portion of its name, for I trust you will know that I am indeed referring to the operating system and not the film — was actually what I had found prior to Inferno.

I am unsure of the precise circumstances that led me to its discovery, but I distinctly remember discovering a page filled with interesting documents on a wide range of topics, which can be reached under the following address: http://doc.cat-v.org/. This fascinating archive of old documents contains a myriad of interesting titbits on both Plan 9 and Inferno — and other topics as well.

I thus decided to start reading some of the documents available on Plan 9 and was quickly intrigued — for seeing an operating system whose creators are the same ones that created the beauty that is Unix was truly remarkable; why had I not heard of it previously?

Yet to my utter dismay, it was quickly revealed that it seems to have been long forgotten and abandoned — but a mere relic of the past — and that one can count its user base on two hands; and while there appears to remain a small number of people that continue using it, its ultimate failure was being unable to prove much better than what it strove to replace — Unix itself.

For they realised their old operating system had become too old, even by the standards of the mid-1980s. They wished to create a system — from scratch — that would encompass these newfangled ideas, such as graphical user interfaces; a system that did not have these features haphazardly stitched on — as a surgeon would try to fix a severely wounded fellow — but one that was built with them in mind; a system that would abide by Unix’ philosophy of everything being a file, but one that was more adapt to modern — at least, for the time — standards.

But alas, as the passage of time has revealed, their efforts have been in vain; for ask any fellow, even those who are learned and know of computers, and chances are high he will not know of their failed efforts to create a superior Unix.

Yet this is not a tale of Plan 9, it is one of its successor Inferno. Having learnt from their former mistakes with Plan 9, they strove to create a superior Plan 9; one that would be used in network environments; one that was portable and lightweight and could easily run on a myriad of different types of machine. Yet tragically, even Inferno seems to have gone under — perhaps even into hell itself.

But fret not! While abandoned by Bell Labs long ago — what vile traitors they are! —, it has since been acquired by a British company, who have released the latest version in 2015, known as Vita Nuova; an Italian word, whose meaning is new life. They, too, appear to have obtained the inspiration for their name from one of Dante’s most magnificent works and seem to be those whom exclusive rights to the Inferno operating system have been granted — and, most surprisingly, they appear to aid in the development of Bell Lab’s former OS, Plan 9, and are providing their services regarding the printing of Plan 9 manuals.

I believe, though, that the time has come to unveil this long forgotten gem.