diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'news/2011-q4.mdwn')
| -rw-r--r-- | news/2011-q4.mdwn | 138 |
1 files changed, 138 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/news/2011-q4.mdwn b/news/2011-q4.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 00000000..efed1001 --- /dev/null +++ b/news/2011-q4.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,138 @@ +[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2011, 2012 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="2012-03-21 19:30 UTC"]] + +A quarter of the Hurd, Q4 of 2011: *Nix-based builds* and *bounty: slab +allocator merged*. +[[!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=""" + +This quarter, Ludovic Courtès contributed a [continuously-built Nix-based QEMU +image](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00042.html), +raising the count of GNU/Hurd distributions to three: [[Debian +GNU/Hurd|hurd/running/debian]], [[hurd/running/Arch_Hurd]], and now +[[hurd/running/Nix]]. His build is still pretty basic, but a step into the +right direction: [[!wikipedia "continuous integration"]] is a great facility +for automated testing. + +Samuel Thibault followed suit with a [new Debian GNU/Hurd disk +set](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00095.html) as a christmas +gift, and +[identified](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00095.html) three +easy porting cases with solutions: + + * undefined reference to `dl_*`: add `-ldl` for building + * undefined reference to `main`: missing `gnu*` case in the linking part of + `configure.ac` or `.in` + * undefined reference to `clock_gettime` or `crypt`: add `-lrt` or `-lcrypt` + +These should help all those who want to help [[porting_packages|hurd/porting]]. + +Maksym Planeta and Richard Braun [finished +integration](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-12/msg00046.html) +of the slab allocator. From [[IRC]], freenode, #hurd, 2011-11-14: + + <braunr> there shouldn't be any noticeable difference [...] + <braunr> a bit less fragmentation + <braunr> more memory can be reclaimed by the VM system + <braunr> there are debugging features + <braunr> it's SMP ready + <braunr> and overall cleaner than the zone allocator + <braunr> although a bit slower on the free path (because of + what's performed to reduce fragmentation) + <braunr> but even "slower" here is completely negligible + +This also +[concludes](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00140.html) +our first [[FOSS Factory|donate#FOSS_Factory]] project -- one [[tag/bounty]] +has been redeemed, more are waiting. + +Sergio Lopez documented his work on +[[better_memory_management_and_memfs|Sergio_Lopez]], making it easier for other +hackers to join in working on that topic. + +Our hackers also used the quarter for porting a good number of packages and +fixing bugs. After fixing quirks in the Hurd's memory management system, +Sergio Lopez [reported success building +webkitgtk+](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00025.html), whose +build stresses the available memory resources on a 32-bit architecture to a +large extent. Svante Signell was busy, too: +[pax](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00105.html), +[abiword](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00035.html), +[syslog-ng](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00060.html), +[ecl](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00058.html), +[fakeroot](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00022.html), +[daemon](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00025.html), and +[procps](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00046.html), +[e2fsprogs' quota](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00015.html). +Samuel Thibault handled +[packagekit](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00071.html), +[evolution](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00070.html), +[emacs23](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00018.html), +[gcc-4.7](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00065.html), and +[iceweasel +(firefox)](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/12/msg00080.html). Bouju +Alain [submitted a +patch](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00079.html) to +support `/proc/cpuinfo`. Ludovic Courtès contributed a patch to [allow for +`/hurd/init` being +symlink](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00032.html), +made the Hurd [build with glibc +2.14+](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00025.html), and +[worked with the GNU coreutils +team](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00067.html) on a +few issues. Pino Toscano improved [`recvfrom` with `NULL` address +ports](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00161.html). +Maksym Planeta continued working on +[tmpfs](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00118.html). +Samuel Thibault turned `/dev/random` and `/dev/urandom` into [native +translators](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/11/msg00092.html), +modernized [libtool's +configuration](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00073.html), +[mknod's cleanup in error +cases](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00070.html), +[fixed POSIX 2008 +visibility](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-12/msg00004.html), +and fixed an [[!debbug 645285 desc="issue in `setresuid` that broke `sudo`"]]. +[Pino +Toscano](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00013.html) and +[Thomas +Schwinge](http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2011-11/msg00020.html) +improved key handling in libpthread. Guillem Jover [fixed Mach's `int` +vs. `long` +discrepancy](http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2011/10/msg00053.html), which +takes us the first step towards [[porting the system to +x86_64|open_issues/64-bit_port]]. + +If you want to join us in our journey to realize more of the promises of the +architecture of the Hurd, please [[get in contact|contact_us]] -- and maybe +already grab the [[source code|source_repositories]] and have fun hacking on +Free Software! + +--- + +The **GNU Hurd** is the GNU project's replacement for the Unix kernel. It is a +collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel to implement file +systems, network protocols, file access control, and other features that are +implemented by the Unix kernel or similar kernels (such as Linux). [[More +detailed|hurd/documentation]]. + +**GNU Mach** is the microkernel upon which a GNU Hurd system is based. It +provides an Inter Process Communication (IPC) mechanism that the Hurd uses to +define interfaces for implementing in a distributed multi-server fashion the +services a traditional operating system kernel provides. [[More +detailed|microkernel/mach/gnumach]]. + +"""]] |