summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/faq
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'faq')
-rw-r--r--faq/how_many_developers.mdwn25
-rw-r--r--faq/sharing_the_user_space.mdwn23
-rw-r--r--faq/why_so_few_developers.mdwn27
3 files changed, 75 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/faq/how_many_developers.mdwn b/faq/how_many_developers.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a553df21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/faq/how_many_developers.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2010 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 title="How many developers are working on the GNU Hurd?"]]
+
+Not many. One handful work on it in their free time, and another two
+handful do help with [[Debian GNU/Hurd|hurd/running/debian]] and
+[[hurd/running/Arch_Hurd]] packaging. Also, an additional handful of
+former developers are still availble for answering technical questions,
+but are not really participating in the current development anymore.
+
+For reaching out to new developers, we're participating in [[Google's
+Summer of Code program|community/gsoc]]. Likewise, any interested party
+(*you*!) are very welcome to start [[contributing]]. Mentoring is
+possible, too, to help you get started.
+
+Continue reading some speculation about [[why so few developers]] are working
+on the GNU Hurd.
diff --git a/faq/sharing_the_user_space.mdwn b/faq/sharing_the_user_space.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ec880827
--- /dev/null
+++ b/faq/sharing_the_user_space.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2010 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]]."]]"""]]
+
+*Question:* Could it be possible to have a system installation where you can
+dual-boot using either the [[Linux]] kernel, or the GNU Hurd, so that
+everything but the kernel is shared?
+
+*Answer:* Given that both Linux and GNU Hurd are using the [[ELF]] binary
+format, this could indeed be made possible, if all programs agreed to rely on
+only one abstraction layer, for example the standard C library ([[glibc]]).
+(Additionally, for example for [[system call]]s that are not covered by glibc
+calls, you'd need to be able to reliably trap and emulate these.) However,
+Linux' and the GNU Hurd's [[ABI]]'s have sufficiently diverged, so that this is
+not easy to do. That's why you can't currently install a system in this way,
+but you need a separate installation of the userspace suited for the Linux
+kernel, or the GNU Hurd.
diff --git a/faq/why_so_few_developers.mdwn b/faq/why_so_few_developers.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a2740abc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/faq/why_so_few_developers.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2010 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 title="Why are there so few developers working on the GNU
+Hurd?"]]
+
+[[There aren't working a lot of people on the GNU
+Hurd|how_many_developers]]. Why is this?
+
+We can only speculate. One major problem might be that the
+[[architectural benefits|advantages]] are generally perceived as very
+abstract, with little practical benefits. We don't have many tools to
+present actually making use of the possibilities.
+
+Another reason is that it's been taking too long. Most people don't
+believe it will ever be ready for production use, and thus would consider
+involvement a waste of time. This latter point is invalid, of course, as
+learning can never be a waste of time. The same holds for the
+[[challenges]] raised by the GNU Hurd -- we can only learn and improve
+upon working on them.