manual merge

2 files changed, 157 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn b/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..778caf2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc."]]
+
+[[!meta license="""[[!toggle id="license" text="GFDL 1.2+"]][[!toggleable
+id="license" text="Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
+document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
+any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant
+Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license
+is included in the section entitled [[GNU Free Documentation
+License|/fdl]]."]]"""]]
+
+<!--
+[[!meta date="2011-07-19 23:42 UTC"]]
+-->
+
+A quarter of the Hurd, Q2 of 2011, PS: *GNU Hurd Truths and Rumors*.
+[[!if test="included()" then="""[[!toggle id=full_news
+text="Details."]][[!toggleable id=full_news text="[[!paste id=full_news]]"]]"""
+else="
+[[!paste id=full_news]]"]]
+
+[[!cut id="full_news" text="""
+
+After our last *[[Quarter of the Hurd|news/2011-q2]]* has been picked up by a bunch
+of news sites, blogs, and so on, discussions have been running all over the
+net.  While we are happy to see that there obviously is quite some interest in
+the GNU Hurd, we also saw some rumors and outdated information flowing around.
+In the following, we try to clear the situation up a bit.
+
+  * *Debian wants to replace the Linux kernel with the GNU Hurd*.  {X}
+    **Wrong**.  We plan to get into Wheezy as an additional port besides
+    GNU/Linux and GNU/kFreeBSD -- but we don't know whether we will make it.
+    It mostly depends on a lot of work which is still to be done.  If you
+    want to help, please see our [[contributing]] page and the *to do* list
+    maintained on <http://wiki.debian.org/Debian_GNU/Hurd>. 
+    We’d be happy to have you on board!
+
+  * *Java support for GNU/Hurd is in the works*.  (./) **True**.  Jérémie
+    Koenig is working on making a versatile Java programming environment
+    available on the GNU/Hurd as part of his [[Google Summer of Code
+    project|user/jkoenig/java]], focussing on OpenJDK 7.  Also, we already do
+    have support by the GCJ/ECJ platform, but this is not fully functional, and
+    Jérémie is improving that, too.
+
+  * *GNU/Hurd has no support for X.org*.  {X} **Wrong**.  X.Org *does*
+    work, and has for a long time.  (Anyone remember
+    [1998's XFree86](http://cvsweb.xfree86.org/cvsweb/xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/os-support/hurd/hurd_video.c?rev=1.1&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup),
+    by chance?)  It is correct however that not a lot of advanced
+    drivers work, due to missing DRM (Direct Rendering Manager)
+    support and that it is [[somewhat_unstable|hurd/status]].
+
+[[tschwinge]] thinks that the following one is a bit questionable...
+
+  * *The GNU/Hurd only runs on legacy hardware*.  {X} **Wrong**.  The GNU/Hurd
+    is only tested on a few platforms, but it likely runs on modern processors.
+    If you want to see if it works for you, just test a
+    [[hurd/running/Live_CD]].
+
+  * *Hurd only supports legacy devices:* ½ Partly True: Currently most
+    drivers are from Linux 2.0. For network cards, Linux 2.6+ drivers
+    are available through DDE, though (needs manual setup for
+    now). With a good amount of work, DDE also allows porting other
+    classes of drivers to allow using the drivers from recent Linux
+    releases — and push them into userspace.
+
+  * *The Hurd has no SMP:* <u>✔ **True**</u>: The **Hurd servers
+    support SMP** and **GNU Mach has SMP support**. But the latter
+    [[does_not_yet_have_drivers_for_nowadays_chipsets|faq/smp]], so
+    the Hurd currently can’t take advantage of multiple cores.
+
+  * *Developing a microkernel must be harder than developing a
+    monolithic kernel, because the Hurd took so long:* ✘ **Wrong**:
+    For the last decade, the Hurd had on average 5 hobby
+    developers. That these developers managed to get the Hurd into a
+    state where it actually gets not too far from the Linux kernel in
+    performance — which has about 1000 developers, many of them full
+    time — shows the efficiency of the Hurd’s design.
+
+  * *Installation does not work:* ½ Partly True: Did you read the
+    [[README|http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/installer/cdimage/YES_REALLY_README.txt]]
+    ([[file|http://xkcd.com/293/]])? Just like any beta piece of
+    software, there are known pitfalls to avoid (or better, help to
+    fix). You can also simply use the the
+    [[preinstalled image|http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/debian-hurd.img.tar.gz]].
+
+  * *The system is called GNU/GNU Hurd:* ✘ **Wrong**: The GNU userland
+    (glibc, coreutils, …) and the GNU Hurd together form the GNU
+    system. To avoid being mistaken for GNU/Linux, we normally use
+    the name GNU/Hurd or GNU Hurd. The *correct* name is simply GNU.
+
+**Test results**
+
+The results of the test from Phoronix were quite good. We expected
+that the microkernel design of the Hurd would have a far more severe
+performance hit.
+
+Some possible explanations include: 
+
+* The tests were mostly CPU bound, so the kernel was not that
+  relevant.
+* IPCs [are no more such a problem on recent hardware][ipc].
+
+Note: The emulation layer should rather make the context switches
+  worse, so it’s likely not a reason for the unexpectedly good
+  performance.
+
+[ipc]: http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.51.16
+
+"""]]
+
+<!--
+
+slashdot
+
+and phoronix did some [performance tests of the Hurd][phorperf], 
+[phorperf]: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=debian_gnu_hurd&num=1
+
+---
+
+IRC, freenode, #hurd, 2011-08-24:
+
+    < ArneBab> hurd related: I now think you were right, antrik: the hurd
+      rumors don’t belong into the news (tschwinge)
+    < antrik> ArneBab: you mean the postscriptum as a whole, or just the wild
+      rumours part?...
+    < ArneBab> the whole PS
+    < ArneBab> it should rather go into a blog post
+    < ArneBab> (in the wiki)
+    < antrik> hm... I don't think I agree
+    < ArneBab> why?
+    < antrik> apparently there is a number of people following the news now,
+      and apparently many of them misread some statements... it makes sense to
+      use the same channel for clarifying them I'd say
+    < ArneBab> hm, ok
+    < ArneBab> how would you select the part to include?
+    < antrik> roughly speaking, I'd include everything that actually relates to
+      the previous news that were misunderstood
+    < antrik> and drop all unrelated speculations that popped up
+    < antrik> BTW, it *might* be useful perhaps to actually update the original
+      news posting with the clarifications?...
+    < ArneBab> we can’t do that without breaking some peoples RSS feeds
+    < antrik> note that there is another aspect to consider: the fact that
+      several news sites picked it up is indeed genuine news by itself...
+    < ArneBab> that’s right, yes
+    < antrik> will it really break anything? from what I heard so far it just
+      means they will see the posting as new again, which would actually make
+      sense in this case...
+    < antrik> but I don't insist if you think it's too risky :-)
+    < antrik> just an idea
+
+-->
diff --git a/contributing/web_pages/news/moth_next.mdwn b/contributing/web_pages/news/moth_next.mdwn
index dec41583..3faa6e60 100644
--- a/contributing/web_pages/news/moth_next.mdwn
+++ b/contributing/web_pages/news/moth_next.mdwn
@@ -67,4 +67,11 @@ And …
 
   * <http://blog.schmehl.info/Debian/hurd-not-default>
 
+  * LWN
+
+  * Bits from the Debian GNU/Hurd porters,
+    id:"20110721172827.GF4057@const.famille.thibault.fr"
+
+  * [[2011-q2-ps]]
+
 """]]