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+[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2013 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="2013-05-14 22:22 UTC"]]
+
+Two quarters of the Hurd, Q3 and Q4 of 2012: *libpthread conversion*,
+*installation CDs*, *hardware compatibility*, *porting*.
+[[!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="""
+
+In November 2012, we finished the [libthreads (cthreads) to libpthread (POSIX
+Threads)
+conversion](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00088.html).
+Converting the Hurd libraries to the [[pthread interfaces|libpthread]] allows
+linking them together with other libraries that use this standard threading
+interface themselves.  This project
+[once](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2002-10/msg00162.html) was
+begun by Vicente Hernando Ara, and later continued by Barry deFreese, Thomas
+DiModica, Thomas Schwinge, Samuel Thibault, Pino Toscano, and now brought to
+completion by Richard Braun, who could not be scared by having to resolve the
+last remaining tricky issues before the transition could be completed.
+
+Cyril Roelandt shared a [patch
+series](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-12/threads.html#00018)
+to fix double mutex unlocking problems.  He found these using a simple script
+for [Coccinelle](http://coccinelle.lip6.fr/), which is a [[static code analysis
+tool|open_issues/code_analysis]].  We hope to see more such changes in the
+future, and we're always interested in hearing people who have experience with
+similar tools, for example to resolve other [[open_issues/locking_issues]].
+
+Thomas Schwinge together with Richard Braun and Samuel Thibault [debugged and
+fixed](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-12/msg00044.html) a
+deadlock related to signal delivery, resulting from a regression due to earlier
+changes.
+
+Also Samuel Thibault
+[provided](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-12/msg00052.html)
+new [installation
+CDs](http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/installer/cdimage/current)
+and a new [QEMU image](http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/).
+Additionally to using pthreads, these now offer keyboard layout configuration.
+
+In [[glibc]],
+Pino Toscano [implemented
+syncfs](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00046.html) which
+ensures that all data in the filesystem gets written to disk, as well as
+support in [[hurd/translator/procfs]] for
+[statfs](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-12/msg00005.html).
+
+Thomas Schwinge improved the hardware compatibility of the Hurd by [identifying
+and
+backporting]](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00077.html)
+some changes contained in Linux 2.0.40, which prevents data corruption due to a
+miscalculation of the size of medium-sized disks reporting 15 heads instead of
+16.
+This fix was part of an effort to get Hurd running using a [solid-state
+disk](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-12/msg00000.html).
+Samuel Thibault improved [network card
+detection](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/07/msg00011.html)
+on busses other than 0 and 2.
+
+Several people ported and fixed packages, further increasing the number of
+[[hurd/running/Debian]] packages that work on the Hurd: *Svante Signell* ported
+[mlocate-0.25](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/07/msg00015.html),
+[gnat-gps](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/07/msg00011.html),
+[libpst](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/08/msg00039.html),
+[libetpan](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/08/msg00046.html),
+[spl](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/09/msg00004.html),
+[dovecot](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/09/msg00007.html),
+[xplc](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/08/msg00054.html),
+[parrot](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/08/msg00056.html),
+[x86info](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/09/msg00008.html),
+[atlas](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/09/msg00009.html),
+[rrdtool](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/09/msg00011.html),
+[gdb](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/09/msg00018.html),
+[yodl](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/08/msg00030.html), and fixed
+[ntpdate](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/12/msg00002.html) to work
+again and
+[improved](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00062.html)
+the error handling in pflocal.  *Pino Toscano* added patches for
+[procfs](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-09/msg00004.html),
+[ptrace](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-10/msg00035.html),
+[fsync on
+stdout](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-10/msg00046.html),
+[muntrace](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00033.html),
+[ulimit](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00034.html),
+[glibc](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00029.html) which
+among others improve POSIX conformance, making it easier to write programs
+which work on GNU/Hurd and GNU/Linux.  And he made the test pass for [FIFO
+sockets](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-09/msg00053.html) with
+mknod and
+[added](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-09/msg00005.html) a
+size parameter to [[hurd/translator/tmpfs]] and a [version suffix
+option](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-10/msg00009.html) for
+GNU Mach's configure script.  *Cyril Roelandt* fixed a
+[ps](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-12/msg00012.html) bug, a
+documentation typo [in
+ps](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-10/msg00032.html) and a
+missing linker flag [in
+procfs](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-10/msg00025.html).
+*Matthew Leach*
+[fixed](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2012-11/msg00037.html) a
+compilation error with older GCC versions due to duplicate type definition.
+*Ole Streicher* fixed a bug in the Makefile of ftools-fv which was
+[exposed](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/10/msg00059.html) by testing
+on Hurd.  *Samuel Thibault*
+[removed](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2012/12/msg00005.html) the
+out-of-date floppy-warnings in the debian installer.
+
+So if you want to test if your favorite packages work on the Hurd and
+contribute towards making the full GNU system usable for a wider range
+of people, please [[get in contact|contact_us]] -- and maybe already
+grab the [[source code|source_repositories]].
+
+---
+
+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]].
+
+"""]]