[phyrrus9]

Has anybody looked into the release of Debian Hurd? 27 years in development and we finally have a stable candidate. The kernel it's using is the GNU Mach kernel, so it operates very similar to the way that OS X and iOS work.

I got a chance to install it on a VM, and I have to say I absolutely love it. It works and feels exactly like linux (same subsystem), but it is as far from linux as you can get. Mach is using a hybrid micro-architecture, so it is closer to Windows than linux in the fact that it is capable of running ALL device drivers completely in userspace. For this reason it has the potential to be much more secure than linux (if handled properly).

I found a couple downsides though. Firstly, since it started development before most of you were even born, it is written entirely in IA-32, and is currently lacking some of the CPU support I like having control of in linux. Secondly, because of its hybrid design, it now has the same hole open to viruses as windows, but I expect that at some point they will utilize KASLR, NX, and code page signatures (like OS X and iOS).

If you want to try it out, there is a list of cd images here tell me what you think.

[Wildfire]

I've never even heard of it, it makes me feel as if I have been living under a rock for the past while... 27 years in development, wow. Something that definitely seems interesting to me is the security standpoint, but we've come a long way with operating system-level security and I'm a bit skeptical if all those features will catch up in time.

[phyrrus9]

I've never even heard of it, it makes me feel as if I have been living under a rock for the past while... 27 years in development, wow. Something that definitely seems interesting to me is the security standpoint, but we've come a long way with operating system-level security and I'm a bit skeptical if all those features will catch up in time.

The Hurd project is GNU, they didn't really like the linux kernel, so they have been working on their own for a long time. I trust the group will do it in time. Linux, btw, doesn't even have all of those features yet. 4.x /might/ have ASLR, but not kernel level (mainstream)

[Wildfire]

I've never even heard of it, it makes me feel as if I have been living under a rock for the past while... 27 years in development, wow. Something that definitely seems interesting to me is the security standpoint, but we've come a long way with operating system-level security and I'm a bit skeptical if all those features will catch up in time.

The Hurd project is GNU, they didn't really like the linux kernel, so they have been working on their own for a long time. I trust the group will do it in time. Linux, btw, doesn't even have all of those features yet. 4.x /might/ have ASLR, but not kernel level (mainstream)

So Linux-libre but without the Linux? Nice! And yes, I'm aware, I try not to ask too much from new software anyway :3

[bulbman]

Won't running everything in userspace be a huge deal? Sure it's potentially more stable and definitely more adjustable. I'm not an expert on this, but I think it would be vulnerable to attacks and virusses, no?

[phyrrus9]

Won't running everything in userspace be a huge deal? Sure it's potentially more stable and definitely more adjustable. I'm not an expert on this, but I think it would be vulnerable to attacks and virusses, no?

In short, yes. There are two mainstream OSes that currently do such a thing. Windows, and OS X. With Windows, the money was spent trying to suck more money out of people in a never ending cycle, but with OS X the money was spent on security. Security measures like KASLR, ASLR, sandboxing, R^X checks, code signatures, underprivileged superuser, and file integrity more than adequately solve this issue. Thus why operating systems where all of these are applied (iOS, TVOS, and OS X) are the most difficult to "hack" into.