The original title, "An update on GNU performance" is missing some context that's mostly implicit from the source.
It would be great if it said either "An update on GNU toolchain performance on ARM" or "An update on GCC performance on ARM".
When I read the headline I was expecting some benchmark tests related to it.
Imagine a world where you could just change your kernel via `pacman -R linux && pacman -S hurd` and have a good fallback should ever linux not be a desirable option, or at least to have some competition.
Having a free microkernel implementation retrocompatible with linux would give enough user data to settle the monolytical vs. microkernel debate, who knows which niche applications would it be ideal for? Mission critical software, realtime processing, embedded software, small reliable image containers, a fresh bench for new OS developments?
There's also the social aspect of how linux is currently developed, what would happen without Linus strong leadership? I am sure there's a very capable team there, but sometimes only technical proficiency is not enough. Would a fragmented leadership handle the NSA's attempted breaches as well? Having a separate project that can handle the same applications would be good in my opinion.
Bonus points for getting rid of that (GNU[+-/])?Linux bullshit.
Having had to work on a locked down linux (stupid corporate rules) system for the last couple of months the dedication to user freedom sounds enticing: https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/community/weblogs/ArneBab/... . As a user being able to install packages without root and start my own services and mount network drives without root would make my life a lot easier.
> As a user being able to install packages without root and start my own services and mount network drives without root would make my life a lot easier.
... but that's not a problem of linux, that's a problem of your company rules. They would put similar rules whatever the OS.
Locked down was probably not the right word, I'm just a normal user with no root access. It is a linux problem because the admins are trying to do something pretty sensible, not let a single user screw up the machine for everyone and restricting users is how linux achieves this, HURD took a different approach.
> As a user being able to install packages without root and start my own services
The future is today:) Nix is a package manager that can run without root. Gentoo prefix installs are an option. Or if you want something more traditional, proot can run a decent number of distros. Maybe also fakeroot? Haven't tried that personally.
No idea if there's a FUSE module for NFS/CIFS, though sshfs is a thing.
Oh, you have a policy problem rather than a technical problem. In that case, I'm not sure how it would help to have a system where user control was normal, since invariably it would be locked down in exactly the same way. I don't think HURD will prevent mounting /home with noexec.
Polkit already allows regular users to manage services [1]. Of course that would require the admins responsible for the system to set it up in such a way.
