Debian GNU/Hurd 2025 released

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Accessing the release / code

  • Original announcement link was down for some; others pointed to the Debian mailing list mirror and an archive.org copy.
  • A working Git repository for Hurd was shared; some people noted trouble cloning it recently.

What Hurd is for in 2025

  • Several ask what the “point” of Hurd is now: most see it as a research/hobby OS rather than a realistic Linux competitor.
  • Some argue it still serves as a testbed for ideas (e.g., user‑space filesystem drivers, more thorough namespace/container abstractions, enforcement of assumptions like “no PATH_MAX”).
  • It’s emphasized that Debian GNU/Hurd is maintained by a tiny, aging core group with limited resources; this is not “Debian-scale” engineering.

Project maturity and viability

  • Many commenters think Hurd is effectively “cooked” as a mainstream contender, especially given Linux’s ubiquity and hardware coverage.
  • Others remain curious or nostalgic and plan to try it in VMs or on old laptops, valuing it as an educational system.

Microkernels vs monolithic kernels

  • Discussion revisits Hurd’s Mach microkernel origin, now widely viewed as dated and slow versus newer microkernels.
  • People cite modern microkernel-based systems: seL4, QNX, Horizon (Nintendo Switch), embedded TEEs, and hypervisors.
  • Some suggest a Hurd on a verified microkernel like seL4; others point to Genode and RedoxOS as more modern alternatives.

Language and contributor pipeline (C vs Rust/Zig)

  • One camp wants a Hurd rewrite in Rust/Zig to attract new contributors and reduce C’s memory-safety hazards.
  • Another argues chasing language trends is risky and may alienate existing C-fluent contributors.
  • There’s disagreement over how large the pool of motivated C kernel developers still is, and whether Rust has moved beyond “hype.”

Technical progress in this release

  • The big surprise: 64‑bit support is now “complete,” apparently leveraging NetBSD’s rump kernel framework for userland disk drivers.
  • This milestone rekindles interest among some who had assumed Hurd was permanently 32‑bit.

GNU ecosystem, culture, and aging

  • Multiple comments praise newer GNU projects (Guix, Shepherd, Taler, Jami, GNU Radio, etc.) and the “hackable to the core” philosophy exemplified by Emacs and Guix.
  • Others criticize this culture as producing sprawling, under‑tested, hard‑to‑maintain systems and contrast it with more configuration‑driven, opinionated tools like systemd.
  • Several worry that the GNU community is aging, not attracting new contributors, and that its strong licensing and philosophical stances hurt adoption.

Comparisons with other alternative OSes

  • Plan 9, Inferno, Haiku, Genode, RedoxOS, HarmonyOS NEXT, and BSDs are all discussed as alternative “what‑if” or niche‑success stories.
  • Some argue that brand‑new general‑purpose OSes have almost no chance on modern heterogeneous hardware; others note healthy pockets (e.g., retro Amiga, Plan 9/9front, Haiku) where small ecosystems thrive.