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Diffstat (limited to 'hurd')
| -rw-r--r-- | hurd/advantages.mdwn | 67 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | hurd/challenges.mdwn | 16 |
2 files changed, 0 insertions, 83 deletions
diff --git a/hurd/advantages.mdwn b/hurd/advantages.mdwn deleted file mode 100644 index 254e33f6..00000000 --- a/hurd/advantages.mdwn +++ /dev/null @@ -1,67 +0,0 @@ -[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2008, 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]]."]]"""]] - -The GNU Hurd has a number of enticing features: - -It's free software, so anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it under the -terms of the [[GNU General Public License (GPL)|GPL]]. - -It's compatible as it provides a familiar programming and user environment. -For all intents and purposes, the Hurd provides the same facilities as a modern -Unix-like kernel. The Hurd uses the [[GNU C Library|glibc]], whose development -closely tracks standards such as ANSI/ISO, BSD, POSIX, Single Unix, SVID, and -X/Open. - -Unlike other popular kernel software, the Hurd has an object-oriented structure -that allows it to evolve without compromising its design. This structure will -help the Hurd undergo major redesign and modifications without having to be -entirely rewritten. - -The Hurd is built in a very modular fashion. Other Unix-like kernels (Linux, -for example) are also modular in that they allow loading (and unloading) some -components as kernel modules, but the Hurd goes one step further in that most -of the components that constitute the whole kernel are running as separate -user-space processes and are thus using different address spaces that are -isolated from each other. This is a multi-server design based on a -[[microkernel]]. It is not possible that a faulty memory dereference inside -the [[TCP/IP stack|translator/pfinet]] can bring down the whole kernel, and -thus the whole system, which is a real problem in a monolothic Unix kernel -architecture. - -One advantage of the Hurd's separation of kernel-like functionality into -separate components ([[servers|translator]]) is that these can be constructed -using different programming lanugages -- a feature that is not easily possible -in a monolithic kernel. Essentially, only an interface from the programming -environment to the [[RPC]] mechanism is required. - -<!-- This is a bit questionable... - -It's scalable. The Hurd implementation is aggressively multithreaded so that -it runs efficiently on both single processors and symmetric multiprocessors. -The Hurd interfaces are designed to allow transparent network clusters -(*collectives*), although this feature has not yet been implemented. - ---> - -The Hurd is an attractive platform for learning how to become a kernel hacker -or for implementing new ideas in kernel technology. Every part of the system -is designed to be easily modified and extended. - -It is possible to develop and test new Hurd kernel components without rebooting -the machine. Running your own kernel components doesn't interfere with other -users, and so no special system privileges are required. The mechanism for -kernel extensions is secure by design: it is impossible to impose your changes -upon other users unless they authorize them or you are the system -administrator. - -The Hurd is real software that works right now. It is not a research project -or a proposal. You don't have to wait at all before you can [[start -using|running]] and [[developing|contributing]] it. diff --git a/hurd/challenges.mdwn b/hurd/challenges.mdwn deleted file mode 100644 index 640b95c9..00000000 --- a/hurd/challenges.mdwn +++ /dev/null @@ -1,16 +0,0 @@ -[[!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]]."]]"""]] - -<!-- Should this page, and [[advantages]] be in the top-level directory? --> - -The GNU Hurd has a lot of [[advantages]], but there are challenges, too. - -There is no successful true multi-server [[microkernel]] system for desktop use -yet. Though, they are quite popular in the simpler embedded space. |