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This is my first time hearing about Minix, and the new architecture seems interesting. Are there any other linux distributions that use something similar to Min

by d4mi3n 14y ago

This is my first time hearing about Minix, and the new architecture seems interesting. Are there any other linux distributions that use something similar to Minix's micro-kernel approach, or is this a bit of an oddity?

jacques_chester 14y ago
Poe's Law strikes again. I can't tell if you're making a joke or not. Assuming you're being serious: no. Linux distributions do not work this way because Linux was itself deliberately designed to be unlike Minix.
- mercurial 14y ago
  I suppose it depends on what you mean by"Linux". If you mean the userland, you can find Debian with a Hurd kernel.
  - jacques_chester 14y ago
    By "Linux distribution" I have reasonably assumed that he was talking about a Linux distribution.
- sltkr 14y ago
  I wouldn't say that Linux was "deliberately designed to be unlike Minix" -- after all, Torvalds' original announcement [1] was in comp.os.minix and he admitted that his OS "resembles [Minix] somewhat". It's more accurate to say that Linux evolved to be very different from Minix because of Torvald's focus on pragmatism. 1. https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/comp.os.minix/dlNtH7RRrGA/SwRavCzVE7gJ https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/comp.os.mi...
  - jacques_chester 14y ago
    I think that's a better way to characterise it, but I was definitely referring to the famous Torvalds/Tannenbaum debate.
krelian 14y ago
Minix is not a linux distribution.
- fosap 14y ago
  It is a different kernel with a netbsd userland. I somehow expect a Debian/minix to come out soon.
qznc 14y ago
If you do not know about Minix and Microkernels, you probably want to dig into the famous debate between Tanenbaum and Torvalds. http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/appa.html http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/appa.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_debate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_deba...
e12e 14y ago
A "Linux distribution" - by definition - use the Linux kernel - as there is no "Linux" system/os. So RedHat, Debian/GNU Linux, Ubuntu and Android are all "Linux distributions" (although, GNU/Linux is usually a better term [edit: Android, afaik does not use a lot, if any GNU code]). FreeBSD, Nexenta (open source Solaris with a GNU userland), Debian/kfreeBSD and Debian/HURD are not Linux distributions, but they are operating system distributions. The latter one would be similar in the sense that HURD is a microkernel.

by d4mi3n 14y ago

jacques_chester 14y ago

Poe's Law strikes again. I can't tell if you're making a joke or not. Assuming you're being serious: no. Linux distributions do not work this way because Linux was itself deliberately designed to be unlike Minix.

mercurial 14y ago
I suppose it depends on what you mean by"Linux". If you mean the userland, you can find Debian with a Hurd kernel.
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  By "Linux distribution" I have reasonably assumed that he was talking about a Linux distribution.
sltkr 14y ago
I wouldn't say that Linux was "deliberately designed to be unlike Minix" -- after all, Torvalds' original announcement [1] was in comp.os.minix and he admitted that his OS "resembles [Minix] somewhat". It's more accurate to say that Linux evolved to be very different from Minix because of Torvald's focus on pragmatism. 1. https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/comp.os.minix/dlNtH7RRrGA/SwRavCzVE7gJ https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/comp.os.mi...
- jacques_chester 14y ago
  I think that's a better way to characterise it, but I was definitely referring to the famous Torvalds/Tannenbaum debate.

krelian 14y ago

Minix is not a linux distribution.

fosap 14y ago
It is a different kernel with a netbsd userland. I somehow expect a Debian/minix to come out soon.

qznc 14y ago

If you do not know about Minix and Microkernels, you probably want to dig into the famous debate between Tanenbaum and Torvalds. http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/appa.html http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/appa.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_debate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum%E2%80%93Torvalds_deba...

e12e 14y ago

A "Linux distribution" - by definition - use the Linux kernel - as there is no "Linux" system/os. So RedHat, Debian/GNU Linux, Ubuntu and Android are all "Linux distributions" (although, GNU/Linux is usually a better term [edit: Android, afaik does not use a lot, if any GNU code]). FreeBSD, Nexenta (open source Solaris with a GNU userland), Debian/kfreeBSD and Debian/HURD are not Linux distributions, but they are operating system distributions. The latter one would be similar in the sense that HURD is a microkernel.