[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,
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[[!meta license="""[[!toggle id="license" text="GFDL 1.2+"]][[!toggleable
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<div id="statements">
<div id="what-is">
<p class="statement-title">What is the GNU Hurd?</p>
<p>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).
<em>[[More_detailed|hurd/documentation]].</em></p>
</div>
<div id="mission">
<p class="statement-title">What is the mission of the GNU Hurd project?</p>
<p>Our mission is to create a general-purpose kernel suitable 
for the GNU operating system, which is viable for everyday use, 
and gives users and programs as much control over their 
computing environment as possible.
<em>[[Our_mission_explained|community/weblogs/antrik/hurd-mission-statement]].</em></p>
</div>
</div>

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[[!toc levels=2]]


# News

[[!inline
pages="news/* and !*/discussion"
feedonly=yes
feedshow=10]]
[[!inline
pages="news/* and !*/discussion"
show=5
feeds=no
template=newsitem
actions=yes]]

Older news entries can be found in the [[news archive|news]].  For Hurd
developers' musings have a look at the [[shared weblog|community/weblogs]].
The [[recent changes]] page lists the latest changes of this website.


# Contributing

So, you are interested in contributing to the GNU Hurd project?  Welcome!
Every single contribution is very much encouraged.  Please read our [[detailed
recommendations about how to contribute|contributing]].

See our [[source_repositories]] for the source code.

## Access to a GNU/Hurd System

We provide accounts on our [[public_Hurd_boxen]], and there are also
[[hurd/running/QEMU]] images available.


# Getting Help

There are a couple of different [[FAQ lists|FAQ]].
There are a number of [[IRC_channels|IRC]] and several
different [[mailing lists]] with searchable archives.

Before asking a question on a mailing list or on IRC, first, please try to
answer your own question using a search engine and reading the introductory
information.  If you have done this and you cannot find the answer to your
question, feel free to ask on a mailing list or on IRC.


<a name="run"> </a>
# Running the Hurd

The most functional distribution of the Hurd is the one provided by Debian.
Find more information about it at the
[Debian GNU/Hurd website](http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-install).

Along with it there are [[various_ways|hurd/running]] to run a GNU/Hurd system. 
Three of them are

* installing a [[GNU/Hurd_distribution|hurd/running/distrib]], 
* running it [[in_Xen|microkernel/mach/gnumach/ports/xen]] and 
* starting a [[Hurd_qemu_image|hurd/running/qemu]] or [[Hurd_LiveCD|hurd/running/live_cd/]].

And these web pages are a living proof of the usability of the Hurd, as they
are rendered on a [[Debian_GNU/Hurd|hurd/running/debian]] system.


# Current Status

The latest releases are [[GNU Hurd 0.8, GNU Mach 1.7, GNU MIG
1.7|news/2016-05-18-releases]], 2016-05-18.  The Hurd is
developed by [[a few volunteers in their spare time|faq/how_many_developers]].
The project welcomes any assistance [[you can provide|contributing]].
Porting and development expertise is still badly needed in many key areas.

Functional systems are installable in a dual-boot configuration.  Development
systems are currently mostly based on the [[Debian_GNU/Hurd|hurd/running/debian]] port
sponsored by the [Debian project](http://www.debian.org/).

Community resources for related projects focus around these pages,
<http://hurd.gnu.org/>, the [[mailing lists]] and the [[IRC_channels|IRC]].

If you want to see the current discussions in the Hurd project, please have a look at 
the [bug-hurd mailinglist archives](http://lists.gnu.org/pipermail/bug-hurd/). 
If you want to have a look at the current coding work, you can just head over to our
[[source_repositories]]. 

For more details, please read our writeup on the
[[current_state_of_the_GNU_Hurd|hurd/status]]. 


## Advantages and Challenges

The GNU Hurd operating system design provides [[advantages]], but uncovers new
[[challenges]], too.


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