Re: [PATCH v3] news/2023-q4.mdwn: new qoth for q4 of 2023.

[Samuel Thibault]

Applied, thanks!

jbranso@dismail.de, le dim. 07 janv. 2024 11:18:20 -0500, a ecrit:
> This is version 3 of the last qoth of 2023.  I've incorporated Dr.
> Arne's comments.
> 
> ---
>  news/2023-q4.mdwn | 121 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 121 insertions(+)
>  create mode 100644 news/2023-q4.mdwn
> 
> diff --git a/news/2023-q4.mdwn b/news/2023-q4.mdwn
> new file mode 100644
> index 00000000..294b6b22
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/news/2023-q4.mdwn
> @@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
> +[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc."]]
> +
> +[[!meta license="""[[!toggle id="license" text="GFDL 1.2+"]][[!toggleable
> +id="license" text="Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify 
> this
> +document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 
> or
> +any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no 
> Invariant
> +Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the 
> license
> +is included in the section entitled [[GNU Free Documentation
> +License|/fdl]]."]]"""]]
> +
> +[[!meta date="2024-01-05 22:22 UTC"]]
> +
> +Hello!  Welcome to a new qoth.  This qoth covers new and interesting GNU/Hurd
> +developments in Q4 of 2023!
> +[[!if test="included()" then="""[[!toggle id=full_news
> +text="Details."]][[!toggleable id=full_news text="[[!paste 
> id=full_news]]"]]"""
> +else="
> +[[!paste id=full_news]]"]]
> +
> +[[!cut id="full_news" text="""
> +
> +Samuel Thibault fixed gcc's Hurd's default pie and [[added static pie
> +support|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-10/msg00061.html]].
> +He also added a [[whatis
> +command|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-10/msg00007.html]]
> +to GNU Mach's kernel debugger, which can determine what an
> +address points to (a stack? a port? some kalloc? ...).  He also added
> +[[hurd-amd64 support to
> +GCC|https://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2023/11/msg00039.html]].
> +
> +Samuel requested that the Hurd team set up a [[continuous
> +integration,|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-12/msg00007.html]]
> +so that when developers make code changes, they can be certain that
> +they did not break anything.  It turns out that the Hurd supports
> +several different environments: 32 bit, 64 bit, 32-on-64 bit, ACPI,
> +non-ACPI, SMP, non-SMP, Xen, etc.  Apparently Flavio has a [[personal
> +CI|https://github.com/flavioc/cross-hurd/actions/runs/7080757561]],
> +but it is set up in a Debian independent way.  If you are interested in
> +helping the Hurd project set up a CI, then please get in touch!
> +
> +Luca Dariz worked on adding [[some simple GNU Mach user-space tests
> +|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-10/msg00031.html]].
> +With a working MiG, a GNU/Linux machine can run make check in the GNU
> +Mach source code, which will launch qemu to ensure that 32 bit (PAE
> +and non PAE), 32 on 64 bit, and full 64 bit GNU Mach works.  We
> +currently do this testing on GNU/Linux, because qemu does not run on
> +the Hurd.
> +
> +Many people worked on the Hurd's new [[x86_64 bit
> +support|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-10/msg00036.html]].
> +A 64-bit debian bbuild is set up, and we can bootstrap a chroot!  The
> +hurd-amd64 wanna-build infrastructure is also set up.  We are having
> +issues reliably building packages on a 64-bit Hurd, which lead Samuel
> +to uncover and fix [[a proc
> +leak|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-11/msg00035.html]].
> +
> +Flavio Cruz [[improved GNU Mach's
> +IPC|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-11/msg00033.html]]
> +by reordering `mach_msg_type_t` fields to byte align `msgt_name` and
> +`msgt_size`.  He also created a patch series to [[avoid message
> +resizing for
> +x86_64|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-11/msg00028.html]].
> +He also [[removed untyped mach RPC
> +code|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-11/msg00026.html]].
> +GNU Mach uses typed IPC.  The Hurd could support both typed and
> +untyped, but it appears that the Hurd only uses typed RPC.  So it
> +seems best to remove any untyped RPC code.
> +
> +Sergey Bugaev added [[GNU Mach entry re-coalescing
> +support|https://darnassus.sceen.net/~hurd-web/open_issues/gnumach_vm_map_entry_forward_merging/]].
> +Essentially, Mach is not always able to merge two vm entries that are
> +made next to each other, which slows down ext2 and bash.  Sergey
> +allowed GNU Mach to merge entries in the common cases, which greatly
> +helps ext2fs.
> +
> +Sergey is also working on [[porting the Ladybird web
> +browser|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-11/msg00013.html]]
> +to the Hurd.  The author of this post uses the [[netsurf web
> +browser|https://www.netsurf-browser.org/]] on the Hurd, which works on
> +simple websites like wikipedia, but it badly renders javascript heavy
> +websites, which makes many websites un-useable.  If Sergey is
> +successful in porting [[Ladybird|https://ladybird.dev/]], then Hurd
> +users could start using sites like Github!  It is worth noting that
> +someone should update the [[Firefox
> +port|https://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2014/09/msg00070.html]] as
> +well.
> +
> +Sergey also started [[porting the Hurd to
> +AArch64!|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-12/msg00110.html]]
> +While a port to RISC-V might be more exciting, it is worth mentioning
> +that AArch64 is more established. What is interesting is that Sergey
> +is already able to build Hurd servers for AArch64! Normally, in order
> +to run the binaries, one would port GNU Mach to AArch64. Luckily for
> +us, he turned to GDB and directly ran a 'Hello World' Hurd AArch64
> +binary on Linux!  This helped him fix some bugs along the way.  We
> +still need to define the ABI and complete the GNU Mach port, but this
> +is exciting news!
> +
> +Tobias Platen started [[porting GNU Mach to
> +Power9|https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-hurd/2023-10/msg00021.html]].
> +
> +So if you want to test if your favorite packages work on the Hurd and
> +contribute towards making the full GNU system usable for a wider range
> +of people, please [[get in contact|contact_us]] -- and maybe already
> +grab the [[source code|source_repositories]].
> +
> +---
> +
> +The **GNU Hurd** is the GNU project's replacement for the Unix kernel.  It 
> is a
> +collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel to implement file
> +systems, network protocols, file access control, and other features that are
> +implemented by the Unix kernel or similar kernels (such as Linux).  [[More
> +detailed|hurd/documentation]].
> +
> +**GNU Mach** is the microkernel upon which a GNU Hurd system is based.  It
> +provides an Inter Process Communication (IPC) mechanism that the Hurd uses to
> +define interfaces for implementing in a distributed multi-server fashion the
> +services a traditional operating system kernel provides.  [[More
> +detailed|microkernel/mach/gnumach]].
> +
> +"""]]
> -- 
> 2.42.0
> 
> 

-- 
Samuel
---
Pour une évaluation indépendante, transparente et rigoureuse !
Je soutiens la Commission d'Évaluation de l'Inria.