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[[!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]]."]]"""]]

<div id="statements">
<div id="what-is">
<p class="statement-title"><strong>What is the GNU Hurd?</strong></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"><strong>What is the mission of the GNU Hurd project?</strong></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>

Download latest stable release [here](https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/hurd/hurd-0.9.tar.gz) or [browse the Git repository](https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/hurd).

---

[[!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 several GNU/Hurd [[Distributions|hurd/running/distrib]] that allow for
[[hurd/running/QEMU]] emulation.

---
# 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 [[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

<!-- I understand the "GNU" prefix is important, especially for Mach, since GNU Mach is an implementation of normal Mach. I'm assuming the reader picks up on this instinctively. Revert if it seems wrong. -->
The latest GNU releases are **Hurd 0.9**, **Mach 1.8**, and **MIG
1.8** [[(Release Notes)|news/2016-12-18-releases]], 2016-12-18.

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/).

Aside from this Wiki, community resources for related projects focus around *[gnu.org](https://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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Further information about this site and how it was created can be found in the
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