news/2009-11-30: Extend some more.

1 files changed, 32 insertions, 14 deletions

diff --git a/news/2009-11-30.mdwn b/news/2009-11-30.mdwn
index 1f288481..a5b0a2ad 100644
--- a/news/2009-11-30.mdwn
+++ b/news/2009-11-30.mdwn
@@ -12,24 +12,42 @@ License|/fdl]]."]]"""]]
 
 [[!meta updated="2009-11-30 00:00 UTC"]]
 
-A month of the Hurd: *network in userspace* and *grub2 from hurd*. 
+A month of the Hurd: initial work on *network device drivers in user space*,
+*GRUB 2*. 
 [[!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 month Zheng Da ported the pcnet32 driver into user space 
-> and did some preliminary 
-> [performance tests](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2009-11/msg00144.html). 
-> The test results were mostly on par with the in-kernel driver, so they show 
-> that moving networking on the Hurd into user space can be done
-> without losing (much) performance. 
-> 
-> Also thanks to Samuel Thibault, the latest grub2 package (1.97+20091130-1)
-> [supports native installation](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2009/11/msg00095.html) 
-> from GNU/Hurd itself. Grub was originally designed
-> [to allow booting of GNU/Hurd systems](http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#History), 
-> so this step brings it closer to its original purpose again. 
-> 
+> This month [[Zheng Da|zhengda]], our [[former Google Summer of Code student
+> working on network virtualization and some related
+> topics|community/gsoc/2008]], published the code for the pcnet32 device
+> driver that he had modified to run as a user-space process instead of inside
+> the kernel, and posted some preliminary [performance benchmark
+> results](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2009-11/msg00144.html).
+> The test results are mostly on par with the in-kernel driver, so they show
+> that moving the lower-layer parts of the networking stack, the device drivers
+> themselves, into user space can be done without losing (much) performance.
+> Given this encouraging start, work is going on to explore whether the [Device
+> Driver Environment](http://wiki.tudos.org/DDE/DDEKit) that has been created
+> for L4-based systems can be used for [providing GNU/Hurd systems with device
+> drivers](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2009-11/msg00241.html)
+> that (a) are more recent than our current ones, (b) support classes of
+> devices that [[we don't support so
+> far|microkernel/mach/gnumach/hardware_compatibility_list]], and (c) are
+> running as (possibly separate, fault-isolated) user-space processes.
 
+> Thanks to Samuel Thibault, the latest Debian GRUB 2 package (1.97+20091130-1)
+> [supports native
+> installation](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2009/11/msg00095.html) from
+> GNU/Hurd itself -- booting GNU/Hurd systems with GRUB has always been
+> working, but until now it wasn't possible to *install* GRUB from a GNU/Hurd
+> system.  GNU GRUB has originally been written [for booting GNU/Hurd
+> systems](http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#History), so this
+> step completes its original purpose.
+
+> Samuel also continued to work on preparing the [[Xen branch of GNU
+> Mach|microkernel/mach/gnumach/ports/xen]] for being merged with the mainline
+> code, as well as he fixed a kernel panic in the kernel's floating point
+> support code.
 """]]