path: root/whatsnew.html

<H3>What's new?</H3>
<P>
<DL>
<!-- News entries start here -->

<dt>2008-09-11</dt>

<dd>

<p>Please see
<a href="http://www.bddebian.com/~wiki/community/gsoc/">http://www.bddebian.com/~wiki/community/gsoc/</a>
for information about how our <strong>Goggle Summer of Code 2008
participation</strong> worked out.  <strong>Congratulations to both students
and mentors!</strong></p>

</dd>


<dt>2008-03-19</dt>

<dd>

<p>The GNU Hurd project has been accepted as a mentoring organisation for
the <strong>Google Summer of Code 2008</strong></a>!  If you are a student and
looking for a job during the summer, take a look at
our <a href="http://www.bddebian.com/~wiki/community/gsoc/">project ideas
list</a> &mdash; here's your chance to help improving the GNU Hurd including
mentoring from our side and being paid compensation from Google's!</p>

<p>The application deadline has
been <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/google-summer-of-code-announce/browse_thread/thread/9fa88f31aa401f70"><strong>extended</strong>
to <strong>Monday, 2008-04-07</strong></a>, so there's more time for you
students to hand in your Hurd applications.</p>

</dd>


<dt>2008-02-11</dt>

<dd>

<p>A number of GNU&nbsp;Hurd developers will again (as already in the previous
years) meet at the time of the FOSDEM&nbsp;2008, which will take place from
2008-02-23 to 24 in Brussels, Belgium.
<a href="http://www.bddebian.com/~wiki/community/meetings/fosdem_2008/">This
wiki page</a> has some details.  <a href="/software/hurd/help.html">Contact
us</a> if you are interested in meeting with us.</p>

</dd>


<dt>2007-10-12</dt>

<dd>

<p>Stefan Siegl
added <a href="http://www.bddebian.com/~wiki/hurd/translator/pfinet/ipv6/">support
for IPv6 networking</a> to the <em>pfinet</em> translator.

</p>

</dd>

<dt>2007-10-01</dt>

<dd>

<p>This year the GNU Hurd had again been assigned one slot within
the <strong>Google Summer of Code</strong> program, which was assigned
to the task <strong>design and
implement <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?1619"><em>libchannel</em></a>,
a library for streams</strong>.  Carl Fredrik Hammar has been working on this
task and
recently <a href="http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2007-09/msg00009.html">posted
a summary</a> about the successful work he had been doing, but also gave an
outline about how he intends to continue improving and extending it.

</p>

</dd>

<dt>2007-03-14</dt>

<dd>

<p>The GNU&nbsp;Hurd project will participate in this year's <strong>Google
Summer of Code</strong>, under the aegis of the GNU project.</p>

<p>The following is a list of items you might want to work on.  If you want to
modify these task proposals or have your own ideas on what to work, then please
don't hesitate to contact us on the <a
href="/software/hurd/help.html#mail">bug-hurd mailing list</a> or the <a
href="/software/hurd/help.html#irc">#hurd IRC channel</a>.</p>

<ul>

<li>Design and implement <a
href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?1619"><em>libchannel</em></a>, a library
for streams.</li>

<li>Rewrite <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?5469"><em>pfinet</em></a>,
our interface to the IPv4 world; create a <a
href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?5470"><em>pfinet6</em></a> to interface to
the IPv6 world.</li>

<li>Make GNU Mach use more <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?5488">up to
date <em>device drivers</em></a>.</li>

<li>Design and implement a <a
href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?5485"><em>sound system</em></a>.</li>

<li>Introduce the world of the <a
href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?5486"><em>Andrew File System (AFS)</em></a>
to the Hurd.</li>

<li>Work on enhancing our <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?5497"><em>NFS
client</em> and <em>NFSd</em></a>.</li>

<li>Implement support for <a
href="http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?5499"><em>Logical Volume Management
(LVM)</em></a>.</li>

</ul>

<p>Please see the page <a href="/software/soc-projects/guidelines.html">GNU
guidelines for Summer of Code projects</a> about how to make an application and
<a href="/software/soc-projects/ideas.html">Summer of Code project ideas
list</a> for a list of tasks for various GNU projects and information about
about how to submit your own ideas for tasks.</p>

</dd>


<dt>2007-01-14</dt>

<dd>

<p>Neal Walfield and Marcus Brinkmann have written and submitted for
publication <a
href="http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2007-01/msg00046.html"><em>A
Critique of the GNU&nbsp;Hurd Multi-server Operating System</em></a> and a <a
href="http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/l4-hurd/2007-01/msg00007.html">position
paper <em>Improving Usability via Access Decomposition and Policy
Refinement</em></a>.  Please follow the two preceding links to see the complete
announcements.  The authors welcome comments and discussion which may be
directed to the <a href="mailto:bug-hurd@gnu.org">&lt;bug-hurd@gnu.org&gt;
mailing list</a> for the Critique and to the <a
href="mailto:l4-hurd@gnu.org">&lt;l4-hurd@gnu.org&gt; mailing list</a> for the
position paper.

<p>The abstract of the Critique: <blockquote><p>The GNU&nbsp;Hurd's design was
motivated by a desire to rectify a number of observed shortcomings in Unix.
Foremost among these is that many policies that limit users exist simply as
remnants of the design of the system's mechanisms and their implementation.  To
increase extensibility and integration, the Hurd adopts an object-based
architecture and defines interfaces, which, in particular those for the
composition of and access to name spaces, are virtualizable.

<p>This paper is first a presentation of the Hurd's design goals and a
characterization of its architecture primarily as it represents a departure
from Unix's.  We then critique the architecture and assess it in terms of the
user environment of today focusing on security.  Then follows an evaluation of
Mach, the microkernel on which the Hurd is built, emphasizing the design
constraints which Mach imposes as well as a number of deficiencies its design
presents for multi-server like systems.  Finally, we reflect on the properties
such a system appears to require.</blockquote>

<p>The abstract of the position paper: <blockquote><p>Commodity operating
systems fail to meet the security, resource management and integration
expectations of users.  We propose a unified solution based on a capability
framework as it supports fine grained objects, straightforward access
propagation and virtualizable interfaces and explore how to improve resource
use via access decomposition and policy refinement with minimum interposition.
We argue that only a small static number of scheduling policies are needed in
practice and advocate hierarchical policy specification and central
realization.</blockquote></dd>


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