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+[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2011, 2012 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="2012-03-21 19:30 UTC"]]
+
+A quarter of the Hurd: *Nix-based builds*, and *bounty: slab allocator merged*.
+[[!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="""
+
+This quarter, Ludovic Courtès contributed a [continuously-built Nix-based QEMU
+image](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00042.html),
+raising the count of GNU/Hurd distributions to three: [[Debian
+GNU/Hurd|hurd/running/debian]], [[hurd/running/Arch_Hurd]], and now
+[[hurd/running/Nix]].  His build is still pretty basic, but a step into the
+right direction: [[!wikipedia "continuous integration"]] is a great facility
+for automated testing.
+
+Samuel Thibault followed suit with a [new Debian GNU/Hurd disk
+set](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00095.html) as a christmas
+gift, and
+[identified](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00095.html) three
+easy porting cases with solutions:
+
+  * undefined reference to `dl_*`: add `-ldl` for building
+  * undefined reference to `main`: missing `gnu*` case in the linking part of
+    `configure.ac` or `.in`
+  * undefined reference to `clock_gettime` or `crypt`: add `-lrt` or `-lcrypt`
+
+These should help all those who want to help [[porting_packages|hurd/porting]].
+
+Maksym Planeta and Richard Braun [finished
+integration](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-12/msg00046.html)
+of the slab allocator.  From [[IRC]], freenode, #hurd, 2011-11-14:
+
+    <braunr> there shouldn't be any noticeable difference [...]
+    <braunr> a bit less fragmentation  
+    <braunr> more memory can be reclaimed by the VM system  
+    <braunr> there are debugging features  
+    <braunr> it's SMP ready  
+    <braunr> and overall cleaner than the zone allocator  
+    <braunr> although a bit slower on the free path (because of
+      what's performed to reduce fragmentation)  
+    <braunr> but even "slower" here is completely negligible
+
+This also
+[concludes](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00140.html)
+our first [[FOSS Factory|donate#FOSS_Factory]] project -- one [[tag/bounty]]
+has been redeemed, more are waiting.
+
+Sergio Lopez documented his work on
+[[better_memory_management_and_memfs|Sergio_Lopez]], making it easier for other
+hackers to join in working on that topic.
+
+Our hackers also used the quarter for porting a good number of packages and
+fixing bugs.  After fixing quirks in the Hurd's memory management system,
+Sergio Lopez [reported success building
+webkitgtk+](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00025.html), whose
+build stresses the available memory resources on a 32-bit architecture to a
+large extent.  Svante Signell was busy, too:
+[pax](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00105.html),
+[abiword](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00035.html),
+[syslog-ng](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00060.html),
+[ecl](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00058.html),
+[fakeroot](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00022.html),
+[daemon](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00025.html), and
+[procps](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00046.html),
+[e2fsprogs' quota](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00015.html).
+Samuel Thibault handled
+[packagekit](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00071.html),
+[evolution](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00070.html),
+[emacs23](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00018.html),
+[gcc-4.7](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00065.html), and
+[iceweasel
+(firefox)](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00080.html).  Bouju
+Alain [submitted a
+patch](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00079.html) to
+support `/proc/cpuinfo`.  Ludovic Courtès contributed a patch to [allow for
+`/hurd/init` being
+symlink](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00032.html),
+made the Hurd [build with glibc
+2.14+](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00025.html), and
+[worked with the GNU coreutils
+team](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00067.html) on a
+few issues.  Pino Toscano improved [`recvfrom` with `NULL` address
+ports](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00161.html).
+Maksym Planeta continued working on
+[tmpfs](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00118.html).
+Samuel Thibault turned `/dev/random` and `/dev/urandom` into [native
+translators](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00092.html),
+modernized [libtool's
+configuration](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00073.html),
+[mknod's cleanup in error
+cases](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00070.html),
+[fixed POSIX 2008
+visibility](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-12/msg00004.html),
+and fixed an [[!debbug 645285 desc="issue in `setresuid` that broke `sudo`"]].
+[Pino
+Toscano](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00013.html) and
+[Thomas
+Schwinge](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00020.html)
+improved key handling in libpthread.  Guillem Jover [fixed Mach's `int`
+vs. `long`
+discrepancy](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00053.html), which
+takes us the first step towards [[porting the system to
+x86_64|open_issues/64-bit_port]].
+
+If you want to join us in our journey to realize more of the promises of the
+architecture of the Hurd, please [[get in contact|contact_us]] -- and maybe
+already grab the [[source code|source_repositories]] and have fun hacking on
+Free Software!
+
+---
+
+The **GNU Hurd** is the GNU project's replacement for the Unix kernel.  It 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).  [[More
+detailed|hurd/documentation]].
+
+**GNU Mach** is the microkernel upon which a GNU Hurd system is based.  It
+provides an Inter Process Communication (IPC) mechanism that the Hurd uses to
+define interfaces for implementing in a distributed multi-server fashion the
+services a traditional operating system kernel provides.  [[More
+detailed|microkernel/mach/gnumach]].
+
+"""]]