Re: [OT] HURD vs Linux/HURD

Larry McVoy
2003-07-19T17:08:28Z

> - GNU/Hurd, the whole systems, is actually GNU tools (libc, linker,
> ...) on top of the GNU Hurd (set of servers) and the GNU Mach
> microkernel.

Mach wasn't written by GNU, it's a BSD based kernel pried apart into chunks
by people at CMU.

> - GNU Mach 1.x uses drivers from Linux 2.0.36 (IIRC)
>
> - GNU Mach 2.0 (actually 1.9, as a beta version), uses the OSKit
> framework, and such drivers from Linux 2.2.12
>
> - pfinet (our TCP/IP server) comes from Linux 2.0 IP stack
>
> I'm not aware of other use of Linux code inside the Hurd project, or
> even inside the GNU project, but there may be.

Drivers and networking account for about 50% of the total lines of code.
The bulk of the work in any operating system is typically drivers. The
generic part of Linux (non-driver, non-file system) is tiny compared to
the rest.

If the Hurd gets its drivers from Linux then it should rightfully be called
Linux/HURD (or Linux/HURD/GNU).

work /tmp/linux-2.5$ bk -rnet cat | wc -l
326411
work /tmp/linux-2.5$ bk -rdrivers cat | wc -l
2605850
work /tmp/linux-2.5$ bk -r cat | wc -l
6618524
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Larry McVoy lm at bitmover.com http://www.bitmover.com/lm