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authorAlfred M. Szmidt <ams@kemisten.nu>2005-01-21 15:50:31 +0000
committerAlfred M. Szmidt <ams@kemisten.nu>2005-01-21 15:50:31 +0000
commit7bb23a08b65fd27450bc5c9c56af6dd0361f4870 (patch)
tree61cde7005b39846ab4a865842f3c600d421dbb04 /faq.en.in
parent5230bba4699289b1edd058bc46f59b6dac21f97e (diff)
Updated several entries based on patch from Frédéric Henry and Manuel
Menal. Fix Alfred's mailing address to point to `ams@gnu.org'.
Diffstat (limited to 'faq.en.in')
-rw-r--r--faq.en.in72
1 files changed, 54 insertions, 18 deletions
diff --git a/faq.en.in b/faq.en.in
index 1d2e2747..0d4b0779 100644
--- a/faq.en.in
+++ b/faq.en.in
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ most obvious examples of these are the TCP/IP stack, the ext2 filesystem
and NFS. In the case of the Hurd, users now have access to
functionality that, in a monolithic kernel, they could never use, but
now, because the server runs in user space as the user that started it,
-they may, for instance, mount an ftp filesystem in their home directory.
+they may, for instance, mount an FTP filesystem in their home directory.
For more information about the design of the Hurd, read the paper by
Thomas Bushnell, BSG: ``Towards a new strategy on OS design'',
@@ -115,13 +115,14 @@ try it and help us get there.
?? Why is `/usr' a symbolic link to `.'?
-{MB} The distinction between `/' and `/usr' has historical reasons.
+{MB,FH} The distinction between `/' and `/usr' has historical reasons.
Back when Unix systems were booted from two tapes, a small root tape
and a big user tape. Today, we like to use different partitions for
these two spaces. The Hurd throws this historical garbage away. We
-think that we have found a more flexible solution called shadow
-filesystems. Unfortunately, support for shadowed filesystems is not yet
-implemented.
+think that we have found a more flexible solution called union
+filesystems, which allow to create virtual filesystems which are the
+union of several other filesystems. However, support for union
+filesystems is still in early development.
?? Why is there no information on the official website
about the Hurd port to L4 (Hurd/L4)?
@@ -239,7 +240,7 @@ but still doable.
?? Can I share swap space between GNU/Linux and GNU/Hurd?
-{NHW} Yes. The default pager recognizes and respects Linux swap
+{NHW} Yes. The default pager recognises and respects Linux swap
partitions. It will also swap to a raw partition, i.e. anything that it
does not recognize as Linux swap. Therefore: BE CAREFUL.
@@ -317,14 +318,21 @@ about translators.
?? Where is the documentation?
-{NHW} There are neither man pages nor info nodes for the Hurd translators
-and commands. Documentation lives inside of the binaries and can be
-found by passing the `--help' option to a given command. For instance:
+{NHW,MM} There are neither man pages nor info nodes for the Hurd
+translators and commands. Documentation lives inside of the binaries
+and can be found by passing the `--help' option to a given command.
+For instance:
# /hurd/ext2fs --help
will tell you what types of options the ext2fs translator accepts.
+The GNU/Hurd User's Guide and the GNU Hurd Reference Manual both
+provide some help about the usage of and concepts behind the GNU Hurd.
+You can find them, among others, at:
+
+ http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/docs.html
+
?? What is a translator?
{MB} There is a text about translators available at:
@@ -352,10 +360,19 @@ prompt.
?? How do I use non-US keyboard bindings?
-{NHW} Take a look at:
+{NHW,FH} Take a look at:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~mgerards/xkb8.tar.gz
+If you want a Debian package, you can add to your
+'etc/apt/sources.list'
+
+ deb http://debian.duckcorp.org/unstable/binary-hurd-i386/ ./
+
+and then run
+
+ apt-get install console-driver-xkb.
+
?? How do I enable color on the console?
{NHW} If you are using the GNU Mach microkernel, you can set your
@@ -394,7 +411,9 @@ filesystem.
?? Why does `ps aux' give me strange output?
-{MB} Try `ps Aux'.
+{MB,MM} Try `ps Aux'. Indeed, under GNU/Hurd, `ps aux' doesn't list
+all processes: it omits the session and group leaders, and the
+processes without parent.
?? I have a hung process that I want to kill, however, `ps' is now
hanging too.
@@ -482,6 +501,17 @@ happens. Thomas explains:
If you can reproduce this error message, please report it.
+?? What does ``computer bought the farm'' mean ?
+
+{FH} This message is the text that corresponds to the errno code
+`EIEIO'. Roland McGrath explains:
+
+ That message is not output by any particular servers at
+ particular times; rather it is the perror text for the errno
+ code EIEIO, which is returned by various RPCs and functions
+ for a variety of "hopeless" error conditions.
+
+
?? What does ``/dev/hd0s1: MOUNTED READ-ONLY; MUST USE `fsysopts
--writable''' mean?
@@ -574,13 +604,17 @@ at:
?? What is OSKit-Mach?
-{NHW} There are two versions of Mach: GNU Mach and OSKit-Mach. The
-former uses the drivers from Linux 2.0.x while the latter uses the
-University of Utah's OSKit. If all goes well, OSKit-Mach will be
-stabilized and become the official kernel. You can find out more about
-the OSKit at:
+{NHW,FH} There are two versions of GNU Mac that are in use: GNU Mach
+1.x and GNU Mach 2.x, formerly known as OSKit-Mach. The former uses
+the drivers from Linux 2.0.x while the latter uses the University of
+Utah's OSKit library for drivers. You can find out more about the
+OSKit library at:
+
+ http://www.cs.utah.edu/flux/oskit
- http://www.cs.utah.edu/flux/oskit
+GNU Mach 2.x is usable, but some things are still missing or not
+working, like the serial port and scsi drivers. This is why GNU Mach
+2.0 hasn't released yet and the two versions coexist.
?? Where is the documentation?
@@ -666,7 +700,9 @@ files like backups in the modified tree, or leave away the option
Answers were given by (in chronological order):
* {NHW} Neal H Walfield <neal@cs.uml.edu>
* {MB} Marcus Brinkmann <Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
-* {AMS} Alfred M. Szmidt <ams@kemisten.nu>
+* {AMS} Alfred M. Szmidt <ams@gnu.org>
* {OK} Ognyan Kulev <ogi@fmi.uni-sofia.bg>
+* {FH} Frédéric Henry <neryel@reveries.info>
+* {MM} Manuel Menal <mmenal@hurdfr.org>
vim:ts=8:sw=8:tw=72