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GNU Hurd To Develop SATA, USB, Audio Support

Posted by timothy on from the ear-to-the-ground-gets-you-trampled dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Hurd, the GNU micro-kernel project that was founded by Richard Stallman in 1983, may finally be catching up with Linux on the desktop... Plans were shared by its developers to finally bring in some modern functionality by working on support for Serial ATA drives, USB support, and sound cards. There are also ambitions to provide x86-64 CPU architecture support. GNU Hurd developers will be doing an unofficial Debian GNU/Hurd 'Wheezy' release this year but they hope for the Debian 'Jessie' release their micro-kernel in Debian will make it as part of some official CDs."

4 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Misguided by wvmarle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Being able to run on a somewhat modern computer (they all come with SATA drives and USB ports nowadays - no support for those two basic technologies means your kernel just won't work on any hardware that's not totally obsolete by now), and being able to actually use all the hardware in that computer, is a fairly important feature of a useable OS, imho.

  2. Re:Absurd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Any user oriented system in development (as HURD clearly is) has to add support for USB, sound cards and SATA at some point. That is no reason for ridicule.
    This particular project does development in an openly visible way, so you can see the daily progress. That is still no reason for ridicule.
    This particular project progresses ... "very" ... slowly. That may or may not be a reason for ridicule, depending on your character.

  3. Re:Really, who cares? by CRCulver · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think Poor Richard has lived in an ivory tower far too long.

    I hate to interrupt your Stallman bashing, but RMS isn't involved in Hurd development. He has been content to use Linux for many years now. Hurd development is driven mainly by other developers who are in it purely as a hobby, a way to play around with microkernel design, and they are not striving to reach a mass market.

  4. GCC by Skiron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    RMS coded GCC by himself - it was only later others got on board:

    GCC history

    And. of course, if it wasn't for RMS and GCC. Linus would not have been able to get a 'free' compiler for his project.

    RMS is the seed of all of this. Don't knock him or his values. It is why we have a great 'free' OS (in all it's varieties) today.