this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Happy birthday πŸŽŠπŸŽ‰ GNU/Linux.

Today GNU/Linux is 32 years old.

It was thankfully released to the public on August 25th, 1991 by Linus Torvalds when he was only 21 years old student.

What a lovely journey 🀍

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Speaking as someone that doesn't understand computers very well: is Hurd usable as a kernel nowadays?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes if you cherry pick the hardware :)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

What is actually the point of using hurd other than being able to say you use Hurd though?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe it hurds in a good way.

Nah, it's a kernel it does kernel stuff and does not offer anything a normal user notices compared to other kernels.

It might be interesting for people who work on kernels just to see different ways on how to solve common problems.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

afaik microkernels have a security advantage since kernel modules do not share the same address space as the main kernel or other modules

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Possibly licensing reasons. Linux is GPLv2 only, Hurd seems to be GPLv2 or later, there could be reasons you may want to use something under the GPLv3.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Hurd is not a monolithic kernel, so it's an interesting technical endeavor. It's also a GNU package which means it's guaranteed to stay libre.

Hurd is also a smaller project relative to linux without the many eyes of the Linux board members.