It kind of seems like the least interesting possible thing to do with Hurd, given its major architectural differences from Linux, is to make it as much like Linux as possible.
I suppose that whoever uses it also needs userland software. It's fun to have a kernel with an unusual architecture, but less so when there is no application for it. I'm also not sure who the public is, apart from FSF people(?), kernel enthusiasts and people who like to experiment. But clearly there are enough people interested that it is getting more usable, and there is nothing wrong with that.
What I'm talking about is adopting things well outside the confines of POSIX, into using stuff like FHS and systemv-style init. Hurd has some powerful stuff that's more like Plan9 than it is like UNIX, and some linuxy ways of doing things can get in the way of using those.
it may be posix-like, but even Linux is not really a POSIX OS except for one version of Red Hat long ago, and maybe now or in the future some Oracle distribution. Same goes for UNIX - these proprietary, commercial certifications only apply to a frozen codebase.
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I suppose that whoever uses it also needs userland software. It's fun to have a kernel with an unusual architecture, but less so when there is no application for it. I'm also not sure who the public is, apart from FSF people(?), kernel enthusiasts and people who like to experiment. But clearly there are enough people interested that it is getting more usable, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Hurd is a POSIX OS.
So are certain versions of Windows NT.
What I'm talking about is adopting things well outside the confines of POSIX, into using stuff like FHS and systemv-style init. Hurd has some powerful stuff that's more like Plan9 than it is like UNIX, and some linuxy ways of doing things can get in the way of using those.
If having a Linux-like layer is what it takes to gain more traction, then so be it.
The world gains very little from having a great OS nobody knows about.
With time, the Hurd-ish ways should prevail where it makes sense.
They already did, its called Plan9 =P
Really, the next innovation in kernels and system architecture needs to be an improvement on plan9 - not on Unix, again.
it may be posix-like, but even Linux is not really a POSIX OS except for one version of Red Hat long ago, and maybe now or in the future some Oracle distribution. Same goes for UNIX - these proprietary, commercial certifications only apply to a frozen codebase.
This doesn't seem like a useful distinction.