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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN"
+ "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/strict.dtd">
+<HTML>
+<HEAD>
+<TITLE>The Hurd and Linux - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)</TITLE>
+<LINK REV="made" HREF="mailto:web-hurd@gnu.org">
+<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="hurd, linux">
+</HEAD>
+<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#1F00FF" ALINK="#FF0000" VLINK="#9900DD">
+
+<H1>The Hurd and Linux</H1>
+[
+<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical -->
+<!-- PLEASE UPDATE THE LIST AT THE BOTTOM (OR TOP) OF THE PAGE TOO! -->
+ <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.cn.html">Chinese(Simplified)</A>
+| <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.zh.html">Chinese(Traditional)</A>
+| <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.he.html">Hebrew</A>
+| <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.html">English</A>
+| <a href="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.es.html">Spanish</a> <!-- Espa&ntilde;ol -->
+]
+
+<P>
+by <A HREF="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard Stallman</A>.
+
+<P>
+
+People sometimes ask, ``Why did the FSF develop a new free kernel
+instead of using Linux?'' It's a reasonable question. The answer,
+briefly, is that that is not the question we faced.
+
+<P>
+When we started developing the Hurd in 1990, the question facing us
+was, ``How can we get a free kernel for the GNU system?'' There was
+no free Unix-like kernel then, and we knew of no other plan to write
+one. The only way we could expect to have a free kernel was to write
+it ourselves. So we started.
+
+<P>
+We heard about Linux after its release. At that time, the question
+facing us was, ``Should we cancel the Hurd project and use Linux
+instead?''
+
+<P>
+We heard that Linux was not at all portable (this may not be true
+today, but that's what we heard then). And we heard that Linux was
+architecturally on a par with the Unix kernel; our work was leading to
+something much more powerful.
+
+<P>
+Given the years of work we had already put into the Hurd, we decided
+to finish it rather than throw them away.
+
+<P>
+If we did face the question that people ask---if Linux were already
+available, and we were considering whether to start writing another
+kernel---we would not do it. Instead we would choose another project,
+something to do a job that no existing free software can do.
+
+<P>
+But we did start the Hurd, back then, and now we have made it work.
+We hope its superior architecture will make free operating systems
+more powerful.
+
+<HR>
+
+[
+<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical -->
+<!-- PLEASE UPDATE THE LIST AT THE BOTTOM (OR TOP) OF THE PAGE TOO! -->
+ <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.cn.html">Chinese(Simplified)</A>
+| <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.zh.html">Chinese(Traditional)</A>
+| <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.he.html">Hebrew</A>
+| <A HREF="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.html">English</A>
+| <a href="/software/hurd/hurd-and-linux.es.html">Spanish</a> <!-- Espa&ntilde;ol -->
+]
+
+<HR>
+
+Return to <A HREF="/home.html">GNU's home page</A>.
+<P>
+FSF &amp; GNU inquiries &amp; questions to
+<A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>.
+Other <A HREF="/home.html#ContactInfo">ways to contact</A> the FSF.
+<P>
+Comments on these web pages to
+<A HREF="mailto:web-hurd@gnu.org"><EM>web-hurd@gnu.org</EM></A>,
+send other questions to
+<A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>.
+<P>
+Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA
+<P>
+Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is
+permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.
+
+<p>
+Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date$ $Author$
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+
+<HR>
+</BODY>
+</HTML>