GNU variants#Debian GNU/Hurd

GNU variants (also called GNU distributions or {{Vague|reason=The slang "distros" is used to indicate all Linux systems, including non-GNU distributions.|text=distros for short|date=October 2024}}) are operating systems based upon the GNU operating system{{Cite web|url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTIzNjY|title=Guix: A New Package Manager & GNU Distribution - Phoronix|website=www.phoronix.com|language=en|access-date=2018-04-02}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.snom.com/footer/source-code-gpl-open-source/|title=Source Code & GPL Open Source|last=UG|first=Awesome Developers|website=www.snom.com|language=en|access-date=2018-04-08|quote=Variants of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as "Linux", they are more accurately called "GNU/Linux systems".|archive-date=2018-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409044219/https://www.snom.com/footer/source-code-gpl-open-source/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=http://en.linuxreviews.org/The_GNU_Operating_System|title=The GNU Operating System|work=LinuxReviews|access-date=2018-04-02|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.outreachy.org/2018-may-august/communities/gnu-guix/|title=Outreachy internships working with GNU Guix|website=www.outreachy.org|access-date=2018-04-02}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-lightweight-linux-distributions-give-pc-lease-life/|title=13 Lightweight Linux Distributions to Give Your Old PC a New Lease of Life|work=MakeUseOf|access-date=2018-04-02|language=en-US}} (the Hurd kernel, the GNU C library, system libraries and application software like GNU coreutils, bash, the Guix package manager, etc). According to the GNU project and others, these also include most operating systems using the Linux kernel and a few others using BSD-based kernels.{{cite web

|url = https://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html

|title = Linux and the GNU Project

|access-date = 2007-07-22

|last = Stallman

|first = Richard

|author-link = Richard Stallman

|date= 2007-06-19

|work = About the GNU Project

|publisher = Free Software Foundation}}{{cite web

|url = http://www.debian.org/

|title = What is Debian?

|access-date = 2007-07-22

|author = The Debian Project

|author-link = Debian

|date= 2007-07-11

|work = About Debian}}

GNU users usually obtain their operating system by downloading GNU distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices (for example, LibreCMC) and personal computers (for example, Debian GNU/Hurd) to powerful supercomputers (for example, Rocks Cluster Distribution).

Hurd kernel{{anchor|Hurd variants}}

File:Gnu hurd debian 1.png.]]

Hurd is one of two official kernels developed for the GNU system, and was the exclusive official kernel before Linux-libre also became an official GNU package. {{anchor|Debian GNU/Hurd}}Debian GNU/Hurd was discussed for a release as technology preview with Debian 7.0 Wheezy, however these plans were discarded due to the immature state of the system.[http://release.debian.org/wheezy/arch_qualify.html List of potential release architektures for Debian Wheezy] However the maintainers of Debian GNU/Hurd decided to publish an unofficial release on the release date of Debian 7.0. Debian GNU/Hurd is not considered yet to provide the performance and stability expected from a production system. Among the open issues are incomplete implementation of Java and X.org graphical user interfaces and limited hardware driver support.[https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/news.html GNU Hurd news] About two thirds of the Debian packages have been ported to Hurd.[http://wiki.debian.org/Debian_GNU/Hurd Debian Wiki: Debian GNU/Hurd]

{{anchor|Arch Hurd}}Arch Hurd is a derivative work of Arch Linux, porting it to the GNU Hurd system with packages optimised for the Intel P6 architecture. Their goal is to provide an Arch-like user environment (BSD-style init scripts, pacman package manager, rolling releases, and a simple set up) on the GNU Hurd, which is stable enough for at least occasional use. Currently it provides a LiveCD for evaluation purposes and installation guides for LiveCD and conventional installation.{{citation|url = http://www.archhurd.org/news/19/|title = Graphical livecd - Desktop packages|work = Arch Hurd|date = 2010-12-07|access-date = 2011-12-08|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120314190636/http://www.archhurd.org/news/19/|archive-date = 2012-03-14}}{{citation|url = https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/news/2010-12.html|title = A month of the Hurd: CD images.|work = GNU|date = 2010-12-31|access-date = 2011-12-08}}{{cite web|url = https://lwn.net/Articles/395150/|title = The Hurd: GNU's quest for the perfect kernel|first = Koen|last = Vervloesem|at = Hurd distributions|work = LWN.net|date = 2010-07-07|access-date = 2011-12-08}}

Linux kernel

File:Parabola GNU+Linux-libre+GNOME+Emacs.png is an example of a Linux-using GNU variant endorsed by the FSF as a "fully free" system.]]

The term GNU/Linux or GNU+Linux is used by the FSF and its supporters to refer to an operating system where the Linux kernel is distributed with a GNU system software. Such distributions are the primary installed base of GNU packages and programs and also of Linux. The most notable official use of this term for a distribution is Debian GNU/Linux.

As of 2018, the only GNU variants recommended by the GNU Project for regular use are Linux distributions committed to the Free System Distribution Guidelines; most of which refer to themselves as "GNU/Linux" (like Debian), and actually use a deblobbed version of the Linux kernel (like the Linux-libre kernel) and not the mainline Linux kernel.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html|title=Free GNU/Linux distributions|date=2017-12-22|website=gnu.org}}

BSD kernels

File:Debian GNU kFreeBSD 6.0 ja JP.png in Japanese.]]

Debian GNU/kFreeBSD is an operating system for IA-32 and x86-64 computer architectures. It is a distribution of GNU with Debian package management and the kernel of FreeBSD. The k in kFreeBSD is an abbreviation for kernel of,{{cite web | url = http://wiki.debian.org/Debian_GNU/kFreeBSD_FAQ#Q.Whatdoesthe.27k.27in.22kFreeBSD.22standfor.3F | title = Debian GNU/kFreeBSD FAQ }} and reflects the fact that only the kernel of the complete FreeBSD operating system is used. The operating system was officially released with Debian Squeeze (6.0) on February 6, 2011.{{cite web

|url=http://www.debian.org/News/2011/20110205a

|title=Debian 6.0 Squeeze released

}} One Debian GNU/kFreeBSD live CD is Ging, which is no longer maintained.{{cite web

|url = http://glibc-bsd.alioth.debian.org/ging/

|title = The Ging FAQ

|access-date = 2008-02-22

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080422181944/http://glibc-bsd.alioth.debian.org/ging/

|archive-date = 2008-04-22

|url-status = dead

}}

{{visible anchor|Debian GNU/NetBSD}} was an experimental port of GNU user-land applications to NetBSD kernel. No official release of this operating system was made; although work was conducted on ports for the IA-32{{cite web|url=http://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/index |title=Debian GNU/NetBSD |publisher=Debian.org |access-date=2012-07-20}} and DEC Alpha{{cite web|url=http://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/alpha |title=Debian GNU/NetBSD for Alpha |publisher=Debian.org |access-date=2012-07-20}} architectures, it has not seen active maintenance since 2002 and is no longer available for download.{{cite web|url=http://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/news |title=Debian GNU/*BSD News |publisher=Debian.org |access-date=2012-07-20}}

As of September 2020, the GNU Project does not recommend or endorse any BSD operating systems.{{Cite web|title=Explaining Why We Don't Endorse Other Systems|url=https://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html|access-date=2020-09-02|website=GNU Project}}

OpenSolaris (Illumos) kernel

Nexenta OS is the first distribution that combines the GNU userland (with the exception of libc; OpenSolaris' libc is used) and Debian's packaging and organisation with the OpenSolaris kernel. Nexenta OS is available for IA-32 and x86-64 based systems. Nexenta Systems, Inc initiated the project and sponsors its continued development.{{cite web

|url=http://www.gnusolaris.org/gswiki

|title=Unix Portal:Nexenta OS - Nexenta OpenSolaris

|access-date=2007-07-22

|author=Nexenta Systems, Inc.

|date=2007-06-20

|work=Sponsors & Support

|quote=This work is initiated and sponsored by Nexenta Systems, Inc. Technical support is available from a variety of sources, including Community and Web Forums.

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711071736/http://www.gnusolaris.org/gswiki

|archive-date=2007-07-11

}}

Nexenta OS is not considered a GNU variant, due to the use of OpenSolaris libc. Multiple Illumos distributions use GNU userland by default.{{cite web

|url = http://wiki.illumos.org/display/illumos/Distributions

|title = Distributions

|author = Illumos Foundation

|author-link = Illumos

|quote = Default Userland}}

XNU (Darwin) kernel

Windows NT kernel

File:Screenshot of ‘Bash on Ubuntu on Windows’.png running on Windows 10.]]

The Cygwin project is an actively-developed compatibility layer in the form of a C library providing a substantial part of the POSIX API functionality for Windows, as well as a distribution of GNU and other Unix-like programs for such an ecosystem. It was first released in 1995 by Cygnus Solutions (now Red Hat).

In 2016 Microsoft and Canonical added an official compatibility layer to Windows 10 that translates Linux kernel calls into Windows NT ones, the reverse of what Wine does. This allows ELF executables to run unmodified on Windows, and is intended to provide web developers with the more familiar GNU userland on top of the Windows kernel.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/03/microsoft-making-linux-apps-run-windows-isnt-crazy/|title=Why Microsoft Making Linux Apps Run on Windows Isn't Crazy|magazine=WIRED|access-date=2018-04-08|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/fr-fr/windows/wsl/faq|title=Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)|last=scooley|website=docs.microsoft.com|language=en-us|access-date=2018-04-08}}{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@zakkai/thoughts-on-gnu-kwindows-gnu-programs-running-natively-on-top-of-the-windows-kernel-a46f69ae36ff|title=Thoughts on GNU/kWindows — GNU programs running natively on top of the Windows kernel|last=Rogoff|first=Zak|date=2018-03-14|website=Medium|access-date=2018-04-08}} The combination has been dubbed "Linux for Windows", even though Linux (i.e. the operating system family defined by its common use of the Linux kernel) is absent.

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20110725012919/http://www.archhurd.org/ Arch Hurd]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20081120014944/http://www.superunprivileged.org/hurd/live-cd/ Superunprivileged.org GNU/Hurd-based Live CD]
[http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu Debian GNU/kFreeBSD]
[http://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/ Debian GNU/NetBSD]
[irc://irc.oftc.org/debian-kbsd #debian-kbsd]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} on OFTC
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080422181944/http://glibc-bsd.alioth.debian.org/ging/ Ging live CD]

Category:Free software operating systems

variants