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# The Acronym
Hurd stands for "Hird of Unix Replacing Daemons."
Hird stands for "Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth."
# Origin
[Quoting ](http://mail.gnu.org/archive/html/help-hurd/2002-10/msg00099.html) Thomas Bushnell, BSG:
The name "Hurd" was invented by me, as an alternate spelling for the English word "herd".
"Hird" is just another alternate spelling for the same word. By the normal rules of
English orthography, they all have the same pronunciations.
# Spelling, Usage and Pronunication
The Hurd has its share of linguistic debate. The subject of proper usage comes up quite often.
We call our kernel replacement \`\`the Hurd.'' Although Thomas Bushnell, BSG states that the
word \`\`Hurd'' is an acronym; we do not treat it as such, but rather as a concrete noun.
It is widely regarded as incorrect to use the term \`\`HURD'' or \`\`H.U.R.D.'' So, to
refer to the collection of servers running on top of the microkernel, we would say,
\`\`I have upgraded to the latest version of the Hurd.'' Since the Hurd is part of
the GNU Project, we also refer to it as \`\`GNU Hurd'' which is treated as a proper noun.
The Hurd, in conjunction with Mach, forms the core of the GNU operating system.
So, one can say \`\`I have installed GNU on my friend's new computer.'' The
Debian Project clarifies this by using the name \`\`Debian GNU/Hurd'', because
it also distributes the GNU/Linux variant of GNU.
To pronounce the word \`\`Hurd,'' you should say the English word \`\`herd.'' This is pronounced as \`\`hɚd'' using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
# In Other Contexts
One contributor from Norway described two other uses of Hird.
* "the kings men", a name given to the men accompanying the Norwegian kings at about
year 1000 and on.
This was later coined by V. Quisling when he formed a party with
nationalistic traits to denote a set of helpers promoting his agenda
of national & Nordic ideas.
* A symbol of collaboration with the (German) enemy used in World War II.
Perhaps unrelated: the "herd mentality" of folks is what the Hurd project
and the the GNU project in general is fighting against, and using the Hurd it is
very easy to do so, since even normal users without privileged can change things
deep inside the system - without restricting others in any way (see
[translators](http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-doc-translator) ).
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