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diff --git a/advantages.mdwn b/advantages.mdwn index 0cb4abed..97db6d86 100644 --- a/advantages.mdwn +++ b/advantages.mdwn @@ -1,5 +1,4 @@ -[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Free -Software Foundation, Inc."]] +[//]: # ([[meta copyright="Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 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 @@ -9,24 +8,45 @@ 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 title="Advantages"]] + [[!tag stable_URL]] -The GNU Hurd has a number of enticing features: +The GNU Hurd is an incredible kernel, which has a number of enticing features: + +* POSIX compliant +* GPLv3 compliant +* Object-orriented design +* Modularity +* Extensibility +* Educational +* No-reboot Design +* And of course, Translators -It's free software, so anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it under the -terms of the [[GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3)|GPL]]. +For more details on these advantages, refer to the sections below: +## POSIX Compliant It's compatible as it provides a familiar programming and user environment. For all intents and purposes, the Hurd provides the same facilities as a modern [[Unix]]-like kernel. The Hurd uses the [[GNU C Library|glibc]], whose development closely tracks [[standards such as ANSI/ISO, BSD, POSIX, Single Unix, SVID, and X/Open|faq/posix_compatibility]]. +What this means, on a higher level, is that any program written for another POSIX-compliant system (such as Linux or newer UNIX systems), +can be built, installed, and run on the Hurd. This means that, unlike, say, Plan 9 or Haiku, there's a huge library of programs already availble for the Hurd (and we mean *natively*, not under an emulator or a compatibility layer)! + +## GPLv3 Compliant +The Hurd is built from the ground up as 100% Free Software, so anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it as they please, under the +terms of the [[GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3)|GPL]]! + + +## Object-Orriented Design Unlike other popular kernel software, the Hurd has an object-oriented structure that allows it to evolve without compromising its design. This structure will help the Hurd undergo major redesign and modifications without having to be entirely rewritten. +## Modularity The Hurd is built in a very modular fashion. Other Unix-like kernels (Linux, for example) are also modular in that they allow loading (and unloading) some components as kernel modules, but the Hurd goes one step further in that most @@ -38,6 +58,7 @@ the [[TCP/IP stack|hurd/translator/pfinet]] can bring down the whole kernel, and thus the whole system, which is a real problem in a monolithic Unix kernel architecture. +## Extensibility One advantage of the Hurd's separation of kernel-like functionality into separate components ([[servers|hurd/translator]]) is that these can be constructed using different programming languages -- a feature that is not @@ -57,10 +78,15 @@ See also [[unsorted/hurd-migr]] ([[!taglink open_issue_documentation]]). --> +## Educational The Hurd is an attractive platform for learning how to become a kernel hacker or for implementing new ideas in kernel technology. Every part of the system is designed to be [[easily modified and extended|extensibility]]. +For more learning resources, see the [[/Documentation]] page. + + +## No-Reboot Design It is possible to develop and test new Hurd kernel components without rebooting the machine. Running your own kernel components doesn't interfere with other users, and so no special system privileges are required. The mechanism for |