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<H3><A NAME="contents">Table of Contents</A></H3>
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="#introduction" NAME="TOCintroduction">Introduction to the Hurd</A>
<LI><A HREF="#advantages" NAME="TOCadvantages">Advantages of the Hurd</A>
<LI><A HREF="#name" NAME="TOCname">What the Hurd means</A>
<LI><A HREF="#status" NAME="TOCstatus">Status of the project</A>
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<H3><A HREF="#TOCintroduction" NAME="introduction">Introduction to the Hurd</A></H3>
<P>
The GNU Hurd is the GNU project's replacement for the Unix kernel.
The Hurd 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).
<P>
Currently, the Hurd runs on IA32 machines. The Hurd should, and
probably will, be ported to other hardware architectures or other
microkernels in the future.
<H3><A HREF="#TOCadvantages" NAME="advantages">Advantages of the Hurd</A></H3>
The Hurd is not the most advanced kernel known to the planet (yet),
but it does have a number of enticing features:
<DL>
<DT><STRONG>it's free software</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
Anybody can use, modify, and redistribute it under the terms of the
<A HREF="/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public License (GPL)</A>.</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's compatible</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
The Hurd provides a familiar programming and user environment. For
all intents and purposes, the Hurd is a modern Unix-like kernel. The
Hurd uses the <A HREF="/software/libc/libc.html">GNU C Library</A>,
whose development closely tracks standards such as ANSI/ISO, BSD,
POSIX, Single Unix, SVID, and X/Open.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's built to survive</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
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.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's scalable</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
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
(<I>collectives</I>), although this feature has not yet been
implemented.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's extensible</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
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 modified and extended.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it's stable</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
It is possible to develop and test new Hurd kernel components without
rebooting the machine (not even accidentally). 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.
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>it exists</STRONG></DT>
<DD>
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 and developing it.
</DD>
</DL>
<H3><A HREF="#TOCname" NAME="name">What the Hurd means</A></H3>
According to Thomas Bushnell, BSG, the primary architect of the Hurd:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
`Hurd' stands for `Hird of Unix-Replacing Daemons'. And, then, `Hird'
stands for `Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth'. We have here, to
my knowledge, the first software to be named by a pair of mutually
recursive acronyms.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<H3><A HREF="#TOCstatus" NAME="status">Status of the project</A></H3>
<P>
The Hurd, together with the GNU Mach microkernel, the GNU C Library
and the other GNU and non-GNU programs in the GNU system, provide a
rather complete and usable operating system today. It is not ready
for production use, as there are still many bugs and missing features.
However, it should be a good base for further development and
non-critical application usage.
<P>
The GNU system (also called GNU/Hurd) is completely self-contained
(you can compile all parts of it using GNU itself). You can run
several instances of the Hurd in parallel, and debug even critical
servers in one Hurd instance with gdb running on another Hurd
instance. You can run the X window system, applications that use it,
and advanced server applications like the Apache webserver.
<P>
On the negative side, the support for character devices (like sound
cards) and other hardware is mostly missing. Although the POSIX
interface is provided, some additional interfaces like POSIX shared
memory or semaphores are still under development.
<P>
All this applies to the current development version, and not to the
last release (0.2). We encourage everybody who is interested to try
out the latest development version, and send feedback to the Hurd
developers.
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