GNU Hurd Gets Improvements: User-Space Driver Support and More 163
jones_supa writes "At FOSDEM 2014 some recent developments of GNU Hurd were discussed (PDF slides). In the name of freedom, GNU Hurd has now the ability to run device drivers from user-space via the project's DDE layer. Among the mentioned use-cases for the GNU Hurd DDE are allowing VPN traffic to just one application, mounting one's own files, redirecting a user's audio, and more flexible hardware support. You can also run Linux kernel drivers in Hurd's user-space. Hurd developers also have working IDE support, X.Org / graphics support, an AHCI driver for Serial ATA, and a Xen PV DomU. Besides the 64-bit support not being in a usable state, USB and sound support is still missing. As some other good news for GNU Hurd, around 79% of the Debian archive is now building for GNU Hurd, including the Xfce desktop (GNOME and KDE soon) and Firefox web browser."
Re:Does it run Beta? (Score:5, Informative)
It also has security advantages, in that drivers don't run in ring zero can't access all memory.
Performance is less of a problem nowadays, because we have fast chips like the Pentium III.
Re:Does it run Beta? (Score:5, Informative)
If you're going to disagree with the whole security community on a security issue, you might want to explain why.
Everybody I know who has any security credentials believes monolithic kernels are a security risk. I have about 20 years of security specialization, and I agree with that view.
If you have an IOMMU, your drivers belong outside kernel address space. If you don't have an IOMMU, you need to get one.
This does not imply that Hurd has done it right. I know nothing about that. It is possible to do it wrong.
Re:Micro Kernel, Failed Computer Science Pipe drea (Score:5, Informative)