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<A HREF="hurd.html#contents"><STRONG>The GNU Hurd</STRONG></A><BR>
<A HREF="learning-more-about-hurd.html#contents">About the Hurd</A><BR>
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<A NAME="contents"><H1>GNU Hurd</H1></A>
<H3>What is the Hurd?</H3>
The GNU Hurd is the GNU project's replacement for the Unix kernel. The
Hurd is a collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel to implement
file systems, network protocols, file access control, and other features
that are implemented by the Unix kernel or similar kernels (such as Linux).
<P>
Currently, the Hurd runs on i386 machines. The Hurd should, and probably
will, be ported to other hardware architectures or other microkernels in
the future.
<H3>Advantages of the Hurd</H3>
The Hurd is not the most advanced operating system known to the planet
(yet), but it does have a number of enticing features:
<DL>
<DT><STRONG>it's free software</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
Anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it under the terms of the
<A HREF="/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU
General Public License (GPL)</A>. The Hurd is part of the GNU system,
which is a complete operating system licensed under the GPL.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's compatible</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
The Hurd provides a familiar programming and user environment. For all
intents and purposes, the Hurd is a modern Unix-like kernel. The Hurd uses
the GNU C Library, whose development closely tracks standards such as ANSI/ISO,
BSD, POSIX, Single Unix, SVID, and X/Open.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it is built to survive</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
Unlike other popular kernel software, the Hurd has an object-oriented structure
that allows it to evolve without compromising its design. This structure
will help the Hurd undergo major redesign and modifications without having
to be entirely rewritten.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's scalable</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
The Hurd implementation is aggressively multithreaded so that it runs efficiently
on both single processors and symmetric multiprocessors. The Hurd interfaces
are designed to allow transparent network clusters (<I>collectives</I>),
although this feature has not yet been implemented.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's extensible</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
The Hurd is an attractive platform for learning how to become a kernel
hacker or for implementing new ideas in kernel technology. Every part of
the system is designed to be modified and extended.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's stable</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
It is possible to develop and test new Hurd kernel components without rebooting
the machine (not even accidentally). Running your own kernel components
doesn't interfere with other users, and so no special system privileges
are required. The mechanism for kernel extensions is secure by design:
it is impossible to impose your changes upon other users unless they authorize
them or you are the system administrator.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it exists</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
The Hurd is real software that works Right Now. It is not a research
project or a proposal. You don't have to wait at all before you can start
using and developing it.
</DD>
</DL>
<H3>What the name ``Hurd'' means</H3>
According to Thomas Bushnell, BSG, the primary architect of the Hurd, ```Hurd' stands for `Hird of Unix-Replacing Daemons'. And, then, `Hird'
stands for `Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth'. We have here, to my
knowledge, the first software to be named by a pair of mutually
recursive acronyms.''
<H3>Status of the project</H3>
The last official release was the 0.2 binary distribution of June 1997.
At the moment, the Hurd developers and people from the
<A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian Project</A> are assembling
a new distribution; it will become the 0.3 distribution.
<P>
The new distribution will use the Debian package management system
to ease installation and updating the system. This package management system
is the same one used in
<A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian GNU/Linux</A> distributions.
In parallel to the Linux distribution, the upcoming Hurd distribution will
be called <A HREF="debian-gnu-hurd.html">Debian GNU/Hurd</A>.
<P>
These efforts are ongoing, but the fundamental packages are ready
and quite stable. If you want to try out the Hurd, it is recommended that you
use the preliminary 0.3 version instead of the 0.2 version, because the
newer snapshots have many bugs fixed and are more stable.
<P>
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Updated:
<!-- hhmts start -->
23 Jan 1999 matthias
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