plan9 was free software in 2000 when the 3rd release was made available (and before the issues discussed in this article were encountered). this is despite RMS's objections that were parroted by clueless linux fanboys around the net.

as to practicality, plan9 was exactly as practical as phk's supposed "cathedral" unix would've been. at the very least it had 1Friggin'UI instead of many :)

but hey, thanks for the downvote. it's not like we haven't had this discussion in person with phk, our difference in opinions is well known to each other.

Do you perceive the difficulty in making the system free? Or practical?

I thought the licensing issues had been resolved for years now?

Impractical I have no argument with, sadly.