Exploring GNU/Hurd – The lost operating system

A Road Not Taken

Debian GNU/Hurd is not ready for everyday use. Several years are probably needed for it to reach that moving goal post technically, assuming it ever does. Meanwhile, the Hurd's instability and incomplete documentation mean that trying it can be challenging even for experienced users. You have to persevere to get to the interesting aspects.

Still, if you have any interest in kernels and operating systems, exploring Debian GNU/Hurd might be worth your effort. You probably won't come away with any strong opinion on the microkernel vs. monolithic debate, simply because the painfully basic and only tentatively stable Hurd is going to suffer in any comparison with the sophistication of a recent Linux Kernel. But, if nothing else, you should come away with a useful sense of other possibilities.

Infos

  1. GNU Hurd: http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/
  2. Minix: http://www.minix3.org/
  3. Debian GNU/Hurd: http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/
  4. Debian GNU Hurd 2013 Release: http://bits.debian.org/2013/05/debian-gnu-hurd-wheezy.html
  5. Torvalds, Linus, and David Diamond. Just for Fun. HarperBusiness, 2001
  6. Hybrid Kernel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_kernel
  7. Haiku: http://www.haiku-os.org/
  8. Dragonfly BSD: http://www.dragonflybsd.org/
  9. GNU Mach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Mach
  10. DDE Toolkit: http://wiki.tudos.org/DDE/DDEKit
  11. GNU Hurd FAQ: http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/faq/software.html
  12. Debian Installer CD:http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-cd
  13. Hurd Help: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-hurd/
  14. Debian GNU/Hurd 2013 Threads: http://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2013/07/threads.html
  15. Hurd Documentation: https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/documentation.html
  16. Hurd Translators: http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-doc-translator
  17. settrans command: http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/users-guide/using_gnuhurd.html#Invoking-settrans
  18. showtrans command: http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/users-guide/using_gnuhurd.html#Invoking-showtrans
  19. fsysopts command: http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/users-guide/using_gnuhurd.html#Invoking-fsysopts
  20. Translator Examples: http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-doc-translator#examples
  21. sub-Hurd: http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd/subhurd.html

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