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GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

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Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#131

Post by happyweasel »

ButlerianJihad wrote: post #97
inigyou wrote: post #16

Cool to finally see some small silly tech stuff here that isn't trying to make money.

From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: What would you like to see most in minix? Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT Hello everybody out there using minix - I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones... ...PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT protable (use…

100% of the user space programs were from gnu. Compiler was from gnu

The initial filesystem was minix

The kernel was Linux.

So I would say Linus had 100s of man years of ecosystem he could benefit from and that is the oss spirit.

But yeah he did not write a shell or an editor or Compiler etc and the kernel was of course oriented towards an unix like os.imagine you would have had to start from scratch, if you had just had a PC and a bios.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#132

Post by anthk »

pjmlp wrote: post #50
nemomarx wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They play both, which is much better for adoption anyway? And it's contributed substantial improvements back to wine and other projects.

It is hardly any different that saying gaming on Linux is great because MAME exists. Game studios will keep buying Windows, using Visual Studio, and let Valve do the needful. Additionally people keep acting as if Valve and Gabe will be around forever, they won't, none of us will.

MAME and Proton are not the same at all. You can reuse Wine/Proton libraries even on Windows.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#133

Post by anthk »

pjmlp wrote: post #26
jhbadger wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who wants it can have Termux which gives you a full Linux experience under Android with GNU tools if you want it, though.

No it does not. It gives a Linux experience within the security sandbox from Android, which is why there are limitations when using it on regular devices, via PlayStore. Also it requires working around the NDK limitations on available POSIX APIs.

Not with Fdroid's release.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#134

Post by 4chandaily »

stackghost wrote: post #61
oytis wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are calling a Linux (sorry, GNU/Linux) killer small silly stuff?

I know this is in jest, but because of the "hurr durr" connotations, only the absolute most bearded of free software zealot neckbeards are going to ever run GNU Hurd beyond simplytest driving it. Open source continues its unbroken streak of showing us why naming things is important.

Those of us who have been using gimp for 20+ years have learned to just accept it. Just take the name they give without complaint and like it.

Maybe the name was more fitting than I realized.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#135

Post by podocarp »

happyweasel wrote: post #131
ButlerianJihad wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: What would you like to see most in minix? Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT Hello everybody out there using minix - I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones... ...PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT protable (use…

100% of the user space programs were from gnu. Compiler was from gnu The initial filesystem was minix The kernel was Linux. So I would say Linus had 100s of man years of ecosystem he could benefit from and that is the oss spirit. But yeah he did not write a shell or an editor or Compiler etc and the kernel was of course oriented towards an unix like os.imagine you would have had to start from scratch, if you had just…

> imagine you would have had to start from scratch, if you had just had a PC and a bios.

Like templeOS I guess

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#136

Post by 0xpgm »

farfatched wrote: post #121
0xpgm wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are AIs good enough at doing novel work that they have yet to encounter? My guess is that the GNU/HURD people are doing a lot of novel work that doesn't yet exist.

How novel is it really? You think what they're doing isn't covered in the intersection of OS books, OS papers, other OSs, osdev, random GitHub projects?

AI to some extent learns APIs. If they are doing new things they are probably introducing new kinds of interfaces.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#137

Post by cestith »

happyweasel wrote: post #131
ButlerianJihad wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: What would you like to see most in minix? Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT Hello everybody out there using minix - I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones... ...PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT protable (use…

100% of the user space programs were from gnu. Compiler was from gnu The initial filesystem was minix The kernel was Linux. So I would say Linus had 100s of man years of ecosystem he could benefit from and that is the oss spirit. But yeah he did not write a shell or an editor or Compiler etc and the kernel was of course oriented towards an unix like os.imagine you would have had to start from scratch, if you had just…

This is all true. It’s also all in a thread about GNU Hurd, which also builds on all of that GNU software plus a Mach-based kernel.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#138

Post by acomjean »

adrian_b wrote: post #21
lynx97 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hurd will have its day once Linux makes it on the desktop :-)

While I upvoted this, as being true for the general population, for me Linux has made it on the desktop (and laptop) much more than 2 decades ago, around 2003, when the remaining problems that had forced me to use dual-booting with Windows had been solved (i.e. when it became possible in Linux to play movies, read DVDs and use TV tuners). When that happened, I wiped out Windows from my computers. If you have a pro to…

I didn’t have a pro to help me. But I used Linux a lot on the cloud/cluster. I didn’t want to futz. So I bought a computer with Linux preinstalled. Then I got one for work. Then a desktop from a different vendor.

There is an extra cost associated with it (I’m paying more for the same hardware), but for me totally worth it to have a functioning Linux install on delivery.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#139

Post by cmrdporcupine »

0xpgm wrote: post #99
api wrote: post #68

Someone should do the blasphemous thing and have Opus 5 finish HURD. Actually in all seriousness reviving dead interesting FOSS projects is one use for AI coding I've thought about.

Are AIs good enough at doing novel work that they have yet to encounter? My guess is that the GNU/HURD people are doing a lot of novel work that doesn't yet exist.

My opinion is Sol or Fable could absolutely "finish" Hurd (whatever the definition of "finished" is), but it would be difficult to review and understand everything it did, nobody would trust it, people would raise copyright concerns, doing so would violate all sorts of GNU cultural norms, and it would sit in a repo unused.

Re: GNU Hurd News 2026-Q2

#140

Post by marcosdumay »

maplant wrote: post #62
IsTom wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that Hurd will also kill Google/Linux?

What I'm saying is that Hurd is just a kernel in the same way that Linux is also just a kernel

Hurd is not just a kernel, but yes, it does provide approximately the same functionality of Linux.
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