diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'faq.en.in')
| -rw-r--r-- | faq.en.in | 38 |
1 files changed, 23 insertions, 15 deletions
@@ -40,39 +40,47 @@ functionality that, in a monolithic kernel, they could never use, but now, because the server runs in user space as the user that started it, they may, for instance, mount an ftp filesystem in their home directory. -For more information about the design of the Hurd, read Thomas Bushnell, -BSG's paper ``Towards a new strategy on OS design'' available at: +For more information about the design of the Hurd, read the paper by +Thomas Bushnell, BSG: ``Towards a new strategy on OS design'', +available at: http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd-paper.html ?? Grammatically speaking, what is the Hurd? -{NHW} ``Hurd'', as an acronym, stands for ``Hird of Unix Replacing -Daemons''. And Hird, in turn, stands for ``Hurd of Interfaces +{NHW} ``Hurd'', as an acronym, stands for ``Hird of Unix-Replacing +Daemons''. Hird, in turn, stands for ``Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth''. -When we are referring to the kernel, we say ``Mach'' and use it as a -proper noun. For example: ``The GNU Mach kernel uses the device drivers -found in version 2.0.x of the Linux kernel.'' +We treat ``Hurd'' as a title rather than as a proper name: it requires +an article, as in ``the Hurd''. For instance: ``The ext2 filesystem +is provided by the Hurd, not by Mach.'' Note that all of the +following are incorrect: ``Hurd'', ``HURD'', ``The HURD'', and ``the +hurd''. -When we talking about the servers, we say ``the Hurd''. For instance: -The ext2 filesystem is provided by the Hurd, not by Mach. The name of -the project is ``the GNU Hurd''. Note, it is wrong to say any of the -following: ``Hurd'', ``HURD,'' ``The HURD'' or ``the hurd''. +We write ``the GNU Hurd'' instead of ``the Hurd'' when we want to +emphasize that the Hurd is a GNU package. Once this has been made +clear, we usually use the shorter form, without ``GNU''. The whole operating system includes not only the kernel and the system servers, but also many more programs. This system is called ``GNU'', or ``the GNU operating system''. The GNU programs can also run on other operating system kernels. We say ``GNU/Hurd'' when we want to put emphasis on the fact that this is the GNU system running on top of -the Hurd. +the Hurd, and to contrast it with the GNU/Linux system which is GNU +using Linux as the kernel. Finally, there is ``Debian GNU/Hurd''. This refers to the distribution of the GNU system as created by the Debian developers. For example: ``What do you run on your laptop? Debian GNU/Hurd, of course.'' -The French have a tendency to say: ``le Hurd''. That is: masculine -singular with a leading capital. +The French generally write ``le Hurd''--that is, they treat the +name as masculine singular, capitalized as in English. + +When we are referring to the microkernel, we say ``Mach'' and use it +as a proper noun. For example: ``Mach uses the device drivers found +in version 2.0.x of Linux.'' We sometimes say ``The Mach +microkernel'' instead of just ``Mach''. ?? What mailing lists are there? @@ -468,7 +476,7 @@ Additionally, the biggest problem is passing relative paths to passive translators. You cannot predict what the current working directory of a translator will be when it is setup as a passive translator. -?? Why can I `read()' a directory? +?? Why can I `read' a directory? {MB} It is important to understand that there is nothing special about a directory under the Hurd, it is just another file. This fits in with |