This sounds like a wxcellent idea to me. Using linux to make the transision sounds like a very logical solution to most of the problems the hurd currently has.
I hope others see your idea working as well as I do. On 9/5/07, R. Steven Rainwater <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm new here but I have some thoughts on the Hurd and the GNU project. I > have read the past emails on gnu-system-discuss as well as other related > lists. My impression is that the GNU Project (the project to produce a > GNU OS) has been stalled because of problems developing the Hurd. Many > of the emails lately have suggested other problems plaguing the Hurd and > the GNU OS. I began making a mental list of the problems and started > thinking about a solution. My idea may not be original or may not be the > best plan but I thought it might be good to post it. Perhaps it will > lead to a better idea or further discussion of how to get the GNU > Project moving again. > > Here are the Problems I See: > > 0. There is no roadmap or plan of how the GNU OS will proceed > 1. There is no clear chain of command for GNU OS or GNU Hurd > 2. GNU OS is stalled waiting for a kernel > 3. Without GNU OS releases, the entire project loses visibility and > interest > 4. GNU Microkernel needs improvement/completion/replacement > 5. GNU Hurd Servers need improvement/completion/replacement > 6. GNU Hurd needs modern Linux driver compatibility > 7. GNU Hurd needs native own drivers > > (I'm not entirely clear on the correct terminology, so by microkernel, I > refer to the underlying part of the Hurd such as gnumach or L4 and, by > Hurd Servers, I mean the part of the Hurd that runs on top of the > microkernel. By Hurd I mean the combination of both parts.) > > Solving problems zero and one should be the first priority. I'm going to > propose my idea of a roadmap for the GNU OS and Hurd. It may be a bad > plan, so feel free to poke holes in it and explain why it's wrong. On > the other hand, perhaps it's a good idea but with flaws that need to be > corrected. In that case consider this a rough draft of the plan and help > me improve it. But for things to move forward, we need to find a plan we > can agree on. I believe someone (I assume RMS?) needs to bless a plan > and assign one person who will be in charge of things and make > decisions. > > We have plenty of smart people working on the Hurd already and there > appear to be many others who would work on it if they understood the > plan and knew their effort would be useful. So it should not be hard to > solve problem one by finding someone here who can coordinate a project > like this. > > Problems 2 through 7 are solved in my proposed road map by releasing an > initial version of the GNU OS that uses a 100% Linux kernel. Over time, > we would transition to a 100% GNU Hurd kernel. This allows us to > immediately resume work on the GNU OS and we can release a working > version of the entire GNU OS very soon, perhaps within a year. My idea > for the kernel transition is to go through several phases that would > allow work to focus on specific tasks, each of which would move us > closer to a 100% GNU Hurd kernel, while maintaining a completely usable > GNU OS at each point in the transition. The phases of the kernel shipped > in the GNU OS would look like this: > > Phase 1: Linux kernel + Linux drivers > > Phase 2: GNU microkernel (single server) + Linux + Linux drivers > > Phase 3: GNU microkernel (multiple server) + GNU Hurd Servers + Linux > drivers > > Phase 4: GNU microkernel + GNU Hurd + GNU drivers > > > Phase 1 solves the immediate problem of the GNU OS not having a kernel. > So we can start working on actually putting together and releasing a > complete GNU OS. My impression is that there is still a huge amount of > work to do, even with a working kernel. But I think it might be possible > to ship a full GNU OS within a year. During this time, whoever is in > charge should make a formal, official decision as to which microkernel > will be used for Hurd (gnumach, L4, coyotos, the rumored new > microkernel, or whatever). This decision will need to be made on a > technical basis and to do that, it seems there needs to be more > discussion of what the technical requirements and problems are. > > This leads us to Phase 2, where we do something similar to the L4Linux > project; we create a single server Linux running on top of the selected > GNU microkernel. Once stable enough, this goes into the GNU OS distro > where it can be used heavily by real users. This sort of real world use > should help improve the microkernel and identify any bugs. This exercise > may also help identify ways in which the Hurd can improve on Linux. > > Meanwhile, kernel programmers can now focuses on Phase 3: getting the > Hurd servers running on top of the selected GNU microkernel. A Linux > driver layer would be added here also. Once this becomes stable enough, > the Hurd goes into the GNU OS distro for real world use. At this point > the GNU OS would no longer need the Linux kernel itself, but would still > rely on Linux drivers. This would be the point at which we can begin to > demonstrate the Hurd's potential to be better than Linux. > > The kernel programmers can now move on to creating GNU-specific drivers > to replace the borrowed Linux drivers. This brings us to Phase 4, a GNU > OS that's 100% Linux-free. This will likely be at least several years > after the phase 1 GNU OS has shipped, which means we will already have a > sizable installed user base waiting to upgrade and enjoy the 100% GNU > Hurd version of the GNU OS. > > The beauty of this is plan, as I see it, is that it would allow work to > resume on the GNU OS right away and should lead to a working distro that > can be installed, used, and improved. GNU OS improvements can continue > as the kernel evolves from 100% Linux to 100% Hurd. And the fact that > the FSF is making regular releases of a complete working OS should > result in greatly increased visibility, increased interest, and more > programmers volunteering. > > > -Steve > http://advogato.org/person/StevenRainwater/ > > > > > > >
