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authorNeal H. Walfield <neal@gnu.org>2008-12-05 14:22:27 +0100
committerNeal H. Walfield <neal@gnu.org>2008-12-05 14:22:27 +0100
commit309fca6529444a2baa40cc029fe3db7db2000249 (patch)
treebe2e7492ad76eab231a571d65d079a140da44102 /microkernel/mach/gnumach.mdwn
parent5333b0c747f4fd97f05bd6c4eeaeb10a62b439e5 (diff)
parent64053fc344b6874499ddf82c6a97d6e9031a546d (diff)
Merge branch 'master' of ssh://neal@git.sv.gnu.org/srv/git/hurd/web
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+[[meta copyright="Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 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]]."]]"""]]
+
+GNU Mach is the microkernel that the [[GNU_Hurd|hurd]] system is based on.
+
+It is maintained by the Hurd developers for the GNU project and remains
+compatible with [[Mach]] 3.0.
+
+The majority of GNU Mach's [[device_driver]]s are from Linux 2.0. They were
+added using glue code, i.e., a Linux [[emulation]] layer in Mach.
+
+GNU Mach runs on x86 machines. See the
+[[hardware_compatibility_list]] and information about
+[[ports]] to other architectures.
+
+
+# Advantages of GNU Mach
+
+GNU Mach is not the most advanced [[microkernel]] known to the planet, nor is
+it the fastest or smallest, but it has a rich set of [[interface]]s and some
+features which make it useful as the base of the [[Hurd]] system.
+
+ * **it's free software**
+
+ Anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it under the terms of the
+ [[GNU_General_Public_License_(GPL)|gpl]].
+
+ * **it's built to survive**
+
+ As a [[microkernel]], GNU Mach doesn't implement a lot of the features
+ commonly found in an operating system, but only the bare minimum that is
+ required to implement a full operating system on top of it. This means
+ that a lot of the operating system code is maintained outside of GNU Mach,
+ and while this code may go through a complete redesign, the code of the
+ microkernel can remain comparatively stable.
+
+ * **it's scalable**
+
+ Mach is particularly well suited for SMP and network cluster techniques.
+ Thread support is provided at the kernel level, and the kernel itself takes
+ advantage of that. Network transparency at the [[IPC]] level makes
+ resources of the system available across machine boundaries (with NORMA
+ IPC, currently not available in GNU Mach).
+
+ * **it exists**
+
+ The Mach microkernel is real software that works Right Now. It is not a
+ research or a proposal. You don't have to wait at all before you can start
+ using and developing it. Mach has been used in many operating systems in
+ the past, usually as the base for a single UNIX server. In the GNU system,
+ Mach is the base of a functional multi-server operating system, the
+ [[Hurd]].
+
+
+# Booting
+
+To actually use the kernel and boot the GNU operating system, you need a boot
+loader. Not all boot loaders are capable to boot the GNU system, you need one
+that supports the multiboot standard. The bootloader of the GNU system is
+[[GNU_GRUB|grub]], which supports a broad range of operating systems including
+GNU/Hurd.
+
+
+# Development
+
+ * [[Reference_Manual]]
+ * [[Building]]
+ * [[Debugging]]
+ * [[Boot_Trace]]
+ * [[Projects]]
+ * [[Rules]]
+ * [[Open_Issues]]