Reinventing Unix: an introduction to the Plan 9 operating system

Plan 9 is based on three basic principles: all objects are either files or file systems, communication is over a network, and private namespaces allow their owners to access local and remote processes transparently. Resources are shared using standard, open protocols and consistent reusable interfaces. This type of distributed system is conducive to project collaboration without regard to place. The geographic location of the machines and the communication network are invisible to its users. It is well suited to grid computing.