the $150 package includes a professionally printed and bound two-volume set of the (fairly hefty) Plan 9 manual pages and (somewhat thinner) papers.
you don't get that with the downloads. obviously you can print off the.pdf from the download; then you'll find that doesn't give the same form factor as the printed manuals in the set.
the boxed set does include a copy of Inferno preloaded on the Plan 9 CD, but that's not the bulk of the cost, if any.
i know i paid $99 for another Free system's boxed set and got one volume with just installation notes and some admin manual pages (both for a previous version!), and i know what i have paid for some other system books here, so the price is not completely silly.
as it happens, i downloaded it myself only yesterday
(not that i hadn't got a copy before); i'm not in the
US; i had no trouble at all. it might also be worth noting that i did not need to identify myself.
i'd be more worried about having a compatible graphics card than about the licence or the export restrictions in most cases....
go pound the doors of graphics card makers to have them document the bloody things properly.
that would be quite useful.
Slashdot Mirror
there is no gilt but there is no guilt, since there are gems on nearly every page(!)
you don't get that with the downloads. obviously you can print off the .pdf from the download; then you'll find that doesn't give the same form factor as the printed manuals in the set.
the boxed set does include a copy of Inferno preloaded on the Plan 9 CD, but that's not the bulk of the cost, if any.
i know i paid $99 for another Free system's boxed set and got one volume with just installation notes and some admin manual pages (both for a previous version!), and i know what i have paid for some other system books here, so the price is not completely silly.
as it happens, i downloaded it myself only yesterday (not that i hadn't got a copy before); i'm not in the US; i had no trouble at all. it might also be worth noting that i did not need to identify myself. i'd be more worried about having a compatible graphics card than about the licence or the export restrictions in most cases.... go pound the doors of graphics card makers to have them document the bloody things properly. that would be quite useful.