Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Debian GNU/Hurd 2015 Released

Posted by Soulskill on from the onward-and-upward dept.

An anonymous reader sends this announcement from the debian-hurd mailing list: It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2015. This is a snapshot of Debian "sid" at the time of the stable Debian "jessie" release (April 2015), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release. The installation ISO images can be downloaded from Debian Ports in the usual three Debian flavors: NETINST, CD, or DVD. Besides the friendly Debian installer, a pre-installed disk image is also available there, making it even easier to try Debian GNU/Hurd. The easiest way to run it is inside a VM such as qemu.

52 comments

  1. Huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why is it 3 1.7 GB ISOs on 3 DVDs instead of 2 DVDs?

    in fact, why is it 5.2 GB?

    1. Re:Huh by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      That's good question. Looks like they were too lazy to optimize it for the ~4.5 GB DVD / layer ...

      [ ] debian-hurd-2015-i386-DVD-1.iso 24-Apr-2015 07:24 1.7G
      [ ] debian-hurd-2015-i386-DVD-2.iso 24-Apr-2015 07:28 1.7G
      [ ] debian-hurd-2015-i386-DVD-3.iso 24-Apr-2015 07:32 1.8G

      The "typical" excuse would be to help with downloads but seriously who is using a downloader that can't resume in this day and age?

      Since the total is 5.2GB I wonder if they could re-compress the files down to 4.5 GB to fit on one DVD with say something like LZMA

    2. Re: Huh by debexpert1 · · Score: 1

      Ufff 5 gigs really? Wtf xD

    3. Re:Huh by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      When putting an iso's contents on a small USB drive (while keeping the fat32 filesystem and the rest of the files!) the less place it's taking, the better ; with debian you also typically only need DVD-1.
      If you do need off-line packages in DVD-2 and DVD-3, you can have the iso files stored anywhere and mount them anyway?

      DVD-R are somewhat unreliable so you're less likely to fail with a smaller iso, that would be another excuse.

    4. Re:Huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are people releasing distros on DVDs in the first place? Have they not heard of USB flash drives??

    5. Re:Huh by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      That's a good point about USB. The FAT32 4GB file size limit is probably the technical reason why the files are spilt into 3 archives.

    6. Re: Huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or you could just minimal. Later install only what you want.

  2. And Yes, Kids! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It does run Duke Nukem Forever!

    1. Re:And Yes, Kids! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oculus Rift is also fully supported.

  3. My distro is better by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

    All other distros suck balls.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  4. init changed by Tim+the+Gecko · · Score: 3, Informative

    The announcement:

    "the init system has been switched to sysvinit for a more Debian-like experience"

    The current Debian init experience (according to Slashdot comments):

    "Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."

    1. Re:init changed by byuu · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Thankfully, Poettering is staunchly anti-portability, so systemd can't run on *BSD or Hurd. I consider that the only positive feature of systemd.

    2. Re:init changed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      That's because Stallman and the FSF don't see systemd as the death of free software. To Stallman, systemd is GPLv3 and therefore, it is free software. If you want software that doesn't require systemd, then it's your responsibility to write software that doesn't use systemd. This is what GNU does.

  5. This is May, not April by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I missing something? Did /. delay April fools?

  6. Oh, yeah? by halivar · · Score: 5, Funny

    MY distro is emacs on systemd.

    1. Re:Oh, yeah? by vux984 · · Score: 4, Funny

      You've got it upside dowm. I run systemd on emacs.

    2. Re:Oh, yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      My distro IS systemd.

      Everything else is redundant.

    3. Re:Oh, yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you use for an editor?

    4. Re:Oh, yeah? by pr0nbot · · Score: 1

      M-x editctl

    5. Re:Oh, yeah? by Polo · · Score: 1

      why not both?

  7. I love Debian by rogerbly · · Score: 1

    After being away working on CentOS and Archlinx for Asterisk radio station links, I'm back on Debian... home sweet home.

    1. Re:I love Debian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What problems did you run into with the other OSes? I'm curious as I haven't experienced many problems with any of the OSes you mentioned...but Fedora...that bane of my existence.

    2. Re:I love Debian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm running fedora. haven't had issues with it. Anything specific that annoys you?

  8. systemd? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    I'd imagine no since it's not a Linux kernel. Would that mean this is the last release we'll see of Debian GNU/Herd since the next release of Debian will be full of systemd-dependencies?

    1. Re:systemd? by armanox · · Score: 1

      If that were the case then Debian GNU/kFreeBSD would be done too.

      --
      I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
    2. Re:systemd? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well damn: http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/66034-systemd-again?-debian-drops-kfreebsd-as-official-architecture

      In a post to the release team, Debian developer Jonathan Wiltshire wrote: "We discussed kfreebsd at length, but are not satisfied that a release with Jessie will be of sufficient quality. We are dropping it as an official release architecture, though we do hope that the porters will be able to make a simultaneous unofficial release."

      One of the reasons for this decision - though unstated by Wiltshire - could be systemd, the new init system that will be the default for the Jessie release. It cannot be used with any kernel other than Linux.

    3. Re:systemd? by Lennie · · Score: 1

      That last part is a bunch of bull shit.

      You can run Debian without systemd with the Linux kernel just fine.

      So kFreeBSD and Hurd can run without systemd just fine too.

      --
      New things are always on the horizon
    4. Re:systemd? by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      Well in fairness some modern operating system components that ship with Debian, such as recent GNOMEs, are transitioning (or have transitioned) to having systemd as a dependency. Yeah, you can "just not use GNOME", but over time more and more of the operating system will transition that way.

      And it kinda ignores why systemd exists. Over time, I'd expect Debian to make itself more systemd dependent, as doing so allows Debian to introduce long awaited security and stability improvements by allowing it to transparently use cgroups and run unprivileged daemons that can listen to privileged ports, things that are not practical under sysvinit (though might be under Upstart.)

      What I'd like to see is Hurd to introduce the functionality that systemd is reliant upon so it too can be ported.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    5. Re:systemd? by Lennie · · Score: 1

      Yes, seems desktop environments on Debian have some dependencies on systemd.

      Anyway, kFreeBSD on the server should be fine.

      --
      New things are always on the horizon
  9. Could this be.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    .. the year of the HURD desktop?

    1. Re:Could this be.. by tnk1 · · Score: 2

      I think they announced that back in 1977 as part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the start of the HURD project.

    2. Re:Could this be.. by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      .. the year of the HURD desktop?

      Nah. More like 2060.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  10. i had to check... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the weather in michigan...

  11. April Fools was a month ago! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Soooo late.

  12. still only 32-bit by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    GNU HURD still only runs in 32-bit mode. while you can run it on a 64-bit processor, you lose all the cool tricks you can do on 64-bit processors, especially when it comes to virtual machines.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:still only 32-bit by tnk1 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've always felt that using 64 whole bits has been a waste of good address space. I'm glad HURD agrees. I'm actually contributing a patch to get them back down to 16-bit mode with the holy grail of finally returning to 8-bit. I have always felt that if you're running on a microkernel you should run with a micro address space too.

    2. Re:still only 32-bit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For Vmish capabilities, Hurd apparently uses 'Sub Hurds'.

      And it runs:
      "Notable new or upgraded packages which required considerable porting
      effort and/or are known to work well on Debian GNU/Hurd include
      Iceweasel 31 ESR, XFCE4 4.10, X.org 7.7 and Emacs 24.4."

      Dunno how more OSes are a bad thing. Dunnet on Hurd anyone?

  13. Got to ask by Chrisq · · Score: 1

    does it run systemd

    1. Re:Got to ask by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stupid question. of couse not, why should it? Neither does kFreeBSD!

    2. Re:Got to ask by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A better question is: does systemd run it?

    3. Re:Got to ask by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does not, so perhaps I should replace my Debian GNU/systemd with it.

  14. Congratulations by MythicalMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was about to make an ironical comment but decided to send a positive message. I will do the same when they release the next version (supposing that I will still be alive at that time).

    --
    --- Signature? You must be kidding!
  15. In related news by terjeber · · Score: 0

    A ten year old boy in Santa Monica has purchased a strawberry ice-cream with the intention to consume it instantly.

  16. Congratulations to the team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is great news. Congratulations to the team for their accomplishment and for their dedication. I think we will all benefit from the long-awaited emergence of HURD as a choice of kernel. People now have the choice of a microkernel, which may be a superior choice in some applications. We now have a GPLv3-or-later license for an essential component of the operating system. And, as others have pointed out, we now have a release of Debian that is likely to remain systemd-free, providing everyone with a way to continue using the GNU system without being exposed to any future mission creep by systemd.

    And finally, the Great Naming Wars might see a reprieve. Instead of choosing between GNU/Linux and 'Linux' to refer to the operating system, maybe people using the HURD kernel can just say they just use the GNU operating system. A man can dream!

  17. Great, all we need now is the right major crisis by xiando · · Score: 1

    All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the GNU World Order.

    --
    9/11: Never forget it was a false-flag operation
  18. Does it run ... by hritcu · · Score: 1

    Does it run emacs?

    --
    If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough. (Alan Kay)
    1. Re:Does it run ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course :)