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diff --git a/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn b/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn deleted file mode 100644 index a05d7326..00000000 --- a/contributing/web_pages/news/2011-q2-ps.mdwn +++ /dev/null @@ -1,200 +0,0 @@ -[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2011 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="2011-07-19 23:42 UTC"]] ---> - -A quarter of the Hurd, Q2 of 2011, PS: *GNU Hurd Truths and Myths*. -[[!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=""" - -After our last *[[Quarter of the Hurd|news/2011-q2]]* has been picked -up by a bunch of news sites, blogs, and so on, discussions have been -running all over the net *([lwn][], [reddit1][], [reddit2][], -[h-online][], [slashdot][], [golem1][], [golem2][], -[ih][innocenthacker], [netzwelt][], [tunnelbau][], -[pro-linux][], [srini][], [schmehl][], …)*. We are happy to see that there is -considerable interest in the Hurd; but we also saw some -misunderstandings, false rumors, and outdated information floating -around. Thus we will try to clarify the situation regarding some of -the more common misunderstandings. - -[reddit1]: http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/j2ztr/rms_mlayout_finally_shout_its_alive_at_gnuhurd_thanks/ -[lwn]: http://lwn.net/Articles/451699/ -[h-online]: http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Hurd-Progresses-Debian-GNU-Hurd-by-end-o -[reddit2]: http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/ipxxt/debian_now_has_concrete_plans_to_bring_gnu_hurd/ -[golem1]: http://www.golem.de/1107/84947.html -[golem2]: http://www.golem.de/1108/85430.html -[slashdot]: http://news.slasd.h.ot.org/story/11/07/14/2141229/watch-out-linux-gnu-hurd-coming -[schmehl]: http://blog.schmehl.info/2011/07/15#hurd-not-default -[innocenthacker]: http://www.innocenthacker.com/2011/07/debian-7-might-come-in-gnu-hurd-version.html -[netzwelt]: http://www.netzwelt.de/news/87551-debian-7-0-wheezy-erste-plaene-hurd-statt-linux-kernel.html -[tunnelbau]: http://blog.operation-tunnelbau.de/archives/66-Hurd-kommt-zusammen-mit-Duke-Nukem-Forever.-Fast..html -[pro-linux]: http://www.pro-linux.de/news/1/17261/gnu-hurd-will-offiziell-in-naechste-debian-version.html -[srini]: http://srinicame.blogspot.com/2011/07/debian-gnuhurd-trial-installation.html - - - - * **Debian GNU Hurd works to become a port in Debian**: - We plan to get into the next Debian release (Wheezy) - as an additional port alongside GNU/Linux and GNU/kFreeBSD -- - but we don't know yet whether we will make it. - There is still substantial work necessary to indeed become a release candidate. - If you - want to help, please see our [[contributing]] page and the *to do* - list maintained on <http://wiki.debian.org/Debian_GNU/Hurd>. We'd - be happy to have you on board! - - * **Java support for GNU/Hurd is nearby**: Jérémie Koenig is working - on making a versatile Java programming environment available on - the GNU/Hurd as part of his - [[Google Summer of Code project|user/jkoenig/java]], focusing on - OpenJDK 7 -- - [partially working packages](http://jk.fr.eu.org/debian/experimental/) - are already available. - He also implemented GCJ/ECJ support, - though this is not yet fully functional either. - <!-- Is this correct? What is the actual status? --> - - * **GNU/Hurd supports X.Org, though a bit unstable**: - X support has been present for ages - (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)?); - and X.Org also has been supported for a long time. - (It's even mentioned in the - [X.Org 7.2 release announcement](http://www.x.org/wiki/Other/Press/X11R72Released?action=show&redirect=PressReleases%2FX11R72Released).) - It is true though that many modern drivers do not work anymore, - as they require DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) support now; - so often only VESA is available. - Also, X on the Hurd is [[somewhat_unstable|hurd/status]]. - - * **The Hurd has weaker device support than Linux**: - Most of the drivers we use today were imported from Linux 2.0.x. - For network cards, - Linux 2.6.29 drivers are available through [[DDE|hurd/dde]] -- - however, this is not fully integrated yet, - so using these drivers needs manual setup for now ([[hurd/dde/guide]]). - Support for other driver types is also possible with DDE, - but it requires some not-trivial work for each additional class of drivers -- - so this can take some time to become available. - (An additional benefit provided by DDE is that the device drivers run in userspace -- - unlike the old drivers we were using so far, - which are part of the underlying Mach microkernel.) - - * **The Hurd has SMP, but needs support for new chipsets**: - Both Mach (the microkernel used by the Hurd), - and the Hurd servers themselves come with SMP support. - However, Mach [[misses drivers for modern SMP chipsets|faq/smp]]; - and there are also some SMP-related bugs in the implementation -- - so further work is needed - for the Hurd to take advantage of modern multicore processors. - - * **Installation can still be challenging**: - Please [[take notice|http://xkcd.com/293/]] of the - [README file](http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/installer/cdimage/YES_REALLY_README.txt) -- - just like with any software in development, - there are some known pitfalls to avoid. - (Or better yet, help to fix :-) ) - Alternatively, you can simply use the the - [preinstalled image](http://people.debian.org/~sthibault/hurd-i386/debian-hurd.img.tar.gz). - - * **GNU Hurd is not the same as GNU/Hurd**: - The GNU project set out in 1983 to create a complete free operating system. - When a distribution such as Debian combines their GNU-based userland - with the GNU kernel (named `GNU Hurd`), - the result is more or less a full GNU system. - However, such third-party distributions are distinct - from what an official complete GNU system release would be; - and thus we often call them `GNU/Hurd` - (similar to `GNU/Linux` or `GNU/kFreeBSD`) for clarity. - - * **Performance**: - The [benchmarks conducted by Phoronix](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=debian_gnu_hurd&num=1) - attested very good performance to the Hurd. - Keep in mind though that these benchmarks were almost completely CPU-bound; - so they essentially just confirm that we don't do anything stupid - regarding CPU initialisations. (Cache setup etc.) - The results would be different for benchmarks - that actually exercise the operating system functionality more. - The fact that the tests were performed in a virtualised environment, - might also have helped the results, - for example by mitigating the effects of our unoptimized I/O paths -- - which are currently the major bottleneck in most situations. - Nevertheless, these results are a hint - that the extra IPC required in microkernel systems - [doesn't necessarily hamper performance](http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.51.16) - quite as much as often believed. - We are glad to see such solid benchmarks - help dispel some of the myths around the Hurd :-) - - * **Given the available manpower, the progress is very good**: - Over the past decade, - there were seldom more than half a dozen developers at any given time - hacking on the Hurd, in their spare time -- - not hundreds of paid developers like Linux has. - Considering this, the progress made is quite encouraging; - with the system being [[pretty usable|hurd/status]] for many day-to-day tasks now. - It is generally understood that the ambitious architecture of the Hurd - required a lot of effort to get it working at all -- - but the recent progress shows that once the foundations are in place, - the Hurd design indeed allows the developers to be very productive. - To see the progress over the last few years, you can have a look at our - [[news_archive|news]]. If you’ve grown interested, you can find - various ways to contribute on the [[contributing]] page. We’d be happy - to see you join in because every single hand makes a big difference in the Hurd! - -"""]] - -<!-- - -slashdot - -and phoronix did some [performance tests of the Hurd][phorperf], -[phorperf]: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=debian_gnu_hurd&num=1 - ---- - -IRC, freenode, #hurd, 2011-08-24: - - < ArneBab> hurd related: I now think you were right, antrik: the hurd - rumors don't belong into the news (tschwinge) - < antrik> ArneBab: you mean the postscriptum as a whole, or just the wild - rumours part?... - < ArneBab> the whole PS - < ArneBab> it should rather go into a blog post - < ArneBab> (in the wiki) - < antrik> hm... I don't think I agree - < ArneBab> why? - < antrik> apparently there is a number of people following the news now, - and apparently many of them misread some statements... it makes sense to - use the same channel for clarifying them I'd say - < ArneBab> hm, ok - < ArneBab> how would you select the part to include? - < antrik> roughly speaking, I'd include everything that actually relates to - the previous news that were misunderstood - < antrik> and drop all unrelated speculations that popped up - < antrik> BTW, it *might* be useful perhaps to actually update the original - news posting with the clarifications?... - < ArneBab> we can't do that without breaking some peoples RSS feeds - < antrik> note that there is another aspect to consider: the fact that - several news sites picked it up is indeed genuine news by itself... - < ArneBab> that's right, yes - < antrik> will it really break anything? from what I heard so far it just - means they will see the posting as new again, which would actually make - sense in this case... - < antrik> but I don't insist if you think it's too risky :-) - < antrik> just an idea - ---> |