Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 26th Feb 2008 21:29 UTC
Richard Stallman, industry activist and founder of the Free Software Foundation has - once again - relinquished his role as maintainer of the phenomenally successful GNU Extensible, Customizable, Display Editor (Emacs). The news was slipped out on the Emacs developers' forum and Stallman explained his reasons in a later interview.
Permalink for comment 302602
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Recent Original Stories
Recent Comments
Headlines
Random Comments
Random Stories
Random OS Link
Member since:
2006-01-01
So, why haven't Linus and his gang written a user space to complement their kernel yet, if it's **so** easy? And why haven't they written a C standard library, a C compiler and a debugger for their "LinuxOS"? Surely they know that a Unix system needs both a kernel and a user space before people can actually use it, and also that you can't develop either of these if you don't have any programming tools.
So why has Linus's crew failed so miserably to write a complete Unix system, which they could rightfully call the "Linux operating system"? And why is Linus downplaying the significance of a project which has accomplished what they failed to do? Where's the Linux user land? And where are the Linux development tools? Well? It's 2008. And we're still waiting.
But seriously, the HURD kernel hasn't been a priority for the GNU project pretty much for the same reason why the user land and the development tools haven't been a priority for the Linux kernel developers. The GNU system doesn't necessarily need HURD because the GNU system and the Linux kernel put together already comprise a free/libre Unix-like system.
The important point here is that the main goal of the GNU project was never just to create a microkernel-based Unix-like system (as your comment seems to suggest). Instead, the main goal that the GNU project has pursued from the very beginning has been to create a Unix-like system that is made entirely of free/libre software. And, with the addition of the Linux kernel, the GNU project has successfully accomplished this goal.
There's really no need for the Linux developers to write their own versions of the GNU user land or the GNU programming tools when the GNU project has already provided those. And, for the same exact reason, it doesn't make much sense for the GNU project to work their butt off just to write their own version of a free/libre kernel. Still, I've heard that the HURD kernel has been more or less usable for some time now, but it's just not nearly as good or stable as the Linux kernel.