4 ms·

Why should I be excited?

• omegaham 11y ago
  "Excited" is the wrong word for this sort of development. "Interested" is probably a better word. Right now, I see this sort of thing as a project for its own sake, and that can still be interesting. More importantly, projects like this frequently spread their ideas elsewhere, even if the project itself isn't very useful. Another possibility is that someone gets a bunch of skills from developing in the much more open territory of Hurd and uses that knowledge to contribute in a more limited fashion in the Linux kernel. Of course, I'm sure that Richard Stallman & Friends would be unhappy with my characterization of Hurd as an academic toy project, but them's the breaks. It's on them to show that this is dompetitive on any level with Linux, and right now that's not the case.
  • vezzy-fnord 11y ago
    RMS isn't really involved in the Hurd, in fact he's mostly given up on it. It's being developed by a few enthusiasts, and academic interest in it has been dwindling. Being competitive with Linux isn't even a project goal.
  • quadrangle 11y ago
    Richard Stallman thinks work on HURD is unimportant and nothing more than an academic toy project. He is interested in the ethics and philosophy of software freedom, and the Linux kernel provides that when combined with adequate other completely free software. RMS has repeatedly said that he sees no real value in continuing the HURD project particularly and is much more interested in high priority things like free software replacements for Skype, free firmware, etc.