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Diffstat (limited to 'contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn')
| -rw-r--r-- | contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn | 79 |
1 files changed, 49 insertions, 30 deletions
diff --git a/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn b/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn index 8931cbb8..778caf2d 100644 --- a/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn +++ b/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn @@ -29,17 +29,10 @@ In the following, we try to clear the situation up a bit. * *Debian wants to replace the Linux kernel with the GNU Hurd*. {X} **Wrong**. We plan to get into Wheezy as an additional port besides GNU/Linux and GNU/kFreeBSD -- but we don't know whether we will make it. - It depends on a lot of factors, a lot of work is still to be done. If you + It mostly depends on a lot of work which is still to be done. If you want to help, please see our [[contributing]] page and the *to do* list - maintained on <http://wiki.debian.org/Debian_GNU/Hurd>. - - * *GNU Hurd developers want the Linux kernel to die*. {X} - **Wrong**. All of us are happy users of the Linux kernel, every - day, and GNU/Linux is the free operating system of choice, which - we're using ourselves (unless sitting in front of a GNU/Hurd - system). We work on the Hurd instead of Linux because of the - [[additional capabilities and clean design|advantages]] it - provides. + maintained on <http://wiki.debian.org/Debian_GNU/Hurd>. + We’d be happy to have you on board! * *Java support for GNU/Hurd is in the works*. (./) **True**. Jérémie Koenig is working on making a versatile Java programming environment @@ -48,11 +41,12 @@ In the following, we try to clear the situation up a bit. have support by the GCJ/ECJ platform, but this is not fully functional, and Jérémie is improving that, too. - * *GNU/Hurd has no support for X.org*. {X} **Wrong**. X.Org *does* work, - and has for a long time. (Anyone remember [1998's - XFree86](http://cvsweb.xfree86.org/cvsweb/xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/os-support/hurd/hurd_video.c?rev=1.1&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup), - by chance?) It is correct however that not a lot of advanced drivers work, - due to missing DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) support. + * *GNU/Hurd has no support for X.org*. {X} **Wrong**. X.Org *does* + work, and has for a long time. (Anyone remember + [1998's XFree86](http://cvsweb.xfree86.org/cvsweb/xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/os-support/hurd/hurd_video.c?rev=1.1&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup), + by chance?) It is correct however that not a lot of advanced + drivers work, due to missing DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) + support and that it is [[somewhat_unstable|hurd/status]]. [[tschwinge]] thinks that the following one is a bit questionable... @@ -61,28 +55,53 @@ In the following, we try to clear the situation up a bit. If you want to see if it works for you, just test a [[hurd/running/Live_CD]]. -* *Hurd only supports legacy devices:* ½ Partly True: Currently most drivers are from Linux 2.0. For network cards, Linux 2.6+ drivers are available through DDE, though (needs manual setup for now). With a good amount of work, DDE also allows porting other classes of drivers to allow using the drivers from recent Linux releases — and push them into userspace. - -* *The Hurd has no SMP:* <u>✔ **True**</u>: Even though the **Hurd servers support SMP** and **GNU Mach has SMP support**. But the latter [[does_not_yet_have_drivers_for_nowadays_chipsets|faq/smp]], so the Hurd currently can’t take advantage of multiple cores. - -* *Developing a microkernel must be harder than developing a monolithic kernel, because the Hurd took so long:* ✘ **Wrong**: For the last decade, the Hurd had on average 5 hobby developers. That these developers managed to get the Hurd into a state where it actually gets not too far from the Linux kernel in performance — which has about 1000 developers, many of them full time — shows the efficiency of the Hurd’s design. - -* *Installation does not work:* ½ Partly True: Did you read the [[README|http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/installer/cdimage/YES_REALLY_README.txt]] ([[file|http://xkcd.com/293/]])? Just like any beta piece of software, there are known pitfalls which you could easily avoid (or better, help to fix). You can also simply use the the [[preinstalled image|http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/debian-hurd.img.tar.gz]]. - -* *The system is called GNU/GNU Hurd:* ✘ **Wrong**: The GNU userland (glibc, coreutils, …) and the GNU Hurd together form the GNU system. To avoid being mistaken for GNU/Linux, we normally use the name GNU/Hurd or GNU Hurd. The *correct* name is simply GNU. + * *Hurd only supports legacy devices:* ½ Partly True: Currently most + drivers are from Linux 2.0. For network cards, Linux 2.6+ drivers + are available through DDE, though (needs manual setup for + now). With a good amount of work, DDE also allows porting other + classes of drivers to allow using the drivers from recent Linux + releases — and push them into userspace. + + * *The Hurd has no SMP:* <u>✔ **True**</u>: The **Hurd servers + support SMP** and **GNU Mach has SMP support**. But the latter + [[does_not_yet_have_drivers_for_nowadays_chipsets|faq/smp]], so + the Hurd currently can’t take advantage of multiple cores. + + * *Developing a microkernel must be harder than developing a + monolithic kernel, because the Hurd took so long:* ✘ **Wrong**: + For the last decade, the Hurd had on average 5 hobby + developers. That these developers managed to get the Hurd into a + state where it actually gets not too far from the Linux kernel in + performance — which has about 1000 developers, many of them full + time — shows the efficiency of the Hurd’s design. + + * *Installation does not work:* ½ Partly True: Did you read the + [[README|http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/installer/cdimage/YES_REALLY_README.txt]] + ([[file|http://xkcd.com/293/]])? Just like any beta piece of + software, there are known pitfalls to avoid (or better, help to + fix). You can also simply use the the + [[preinstalled image|http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/debian-hurd.img.tar.gz]]. + + * *The system is called GNU/GNU Hurd:* ✘ **Wrong**: The GNU userland + (glibc, coreutils, …) and the GNU Hurd together form the GNU + system. To avoid being mistaken for GNU/Linux, we normally use + the name GNU/Hurd or GNU Hurd. The *correct* name is simply GNU. **Test results** -The results of the test from Phoronix were quite good. We expected that the microkernel design of the Hurd would have a far more severe performance hit. +The results of the test from Phoronix were quite good. We expected +that the microkernel design of the Hurd would have a far more severe +performance hit. -Some possible explanations: +Some possible explanations include: -* The tests were mostly CPU bound. +* The tests were mostly CPU bound, so the kernel was not that + relevant. * IPCs [are no more such a problem on recent hardware][ipc]. -And a non-explanation: - -* The emulation layer should rather make the context switches worse, so it’s likely not at play. +Note: The emulation layer should rather make the context switches + worse, so it’s likely not a reason for the unexpectedly good + performance. [ipc]: http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.51.16 |