Re: A few questions: Libre SoC, website, Rust

[Joshua Branson]

Samuel Thibault <samuel.thibault@gnu.org> writes:

> Jan Wielkiewicz, le dim. 16 août 2020 21:00:26 +0200, a ecrit:
>> > More than a grant, it's people that we would need (yes, a grant could
>> > help here but in the end it's people that matter).
>> I believe the website could help here, explanation below.

May I suggest we make a business out of the GNU/Hurd?  I own the domain
gnu-hurd.com.  My original business plan was to host static blog sites
for young programmers for $2 or $3 per month.  And or sell librebooted
laptops.  We can do both if anyone is interested in joining me in this
endeavor.  I'm also open to any and all business proposals.  I only own
the domain gnu-hurd.com.  I'm not proposing that I own the project or
the direction the GNU/Hurd takes.  Samuel is our fearless leader!

>
> Sure. But also see below.
>
>> > Being able to work on people's hardware is also a very important
>> > thing. You won't attract people to your OS if it can only run on some
>> > "obscure" hardware. Supporting x86 remains some must, and porting to
>> > 64bit will be the most efficient way of fixing the pending year-2038
>> > issue.
>> I see. I'm not sure if the Hurd's ideal target are x86 devices anyway.

Again, we could sell hardware that runs on the Hurd.  This is a problem
that a business could solve.  We could sell a laptop that dual boots the
Hurd and debian or guix.  That way the user can choose at boot time:  is
it time to play with the Hurd?  Or is it time to get work done with a
modern firefox web browser in debian?

>
>> By providing Libre SoC support for the Hurd, the project can prepare
>> for *new* hardware that's already comming, instead of trying to chase
>> 10 years old proprietary junk.

You may be interested in talking to Richard Braun.  He's mostly stepped
away from GNU/Hurd development, but he's working on his own
kernel. (it's really similar to the Hurd) He's been porting it to Arm
recently.  He could give you some tips about how to port the GNU/Hurd.
Apart from Samuel, Richard Braun may be one of the best and most
knowledgeable GNU/Hurd developers alive today.

https://www.sceen.net/x15/

> I'm afraid I'm not sure I want to attract people who only like
> shiny-brighty websites and can't stand a merely black-blue-on-white
> design. By this, I mean: personally I just ~#{[ don't have the #{[[ time
> to answer their probably terribly large amount of questions.
>

You do a terrific job for the Hurd Samuel!  You are perhaps the best
leader it's ever had.  It would have faded away into nothing without
you.  Thanks for your dedication!

>> with latest news from 2016 and assume the project is dead.
>
> That part makes full sense, yes. Now fixed. Again, as I mentioned, it's
> a matter of somebody actually taking the time of putting news there. I
> don't have time to do such a thing, and I'm no good at that anyway. I
> can proofread what somebody would write, though.
>
> Again, that's only my own opinion, and what my limited amount of free
> time can permit, I'm sorry that it looks so negative. If other people
> can help with this, feel free, it's an open project, I'm just warning
> what I have seen happening in the past decade.

Samuel I don't think you're being negative.  You're being somewhat
realistic.  For those of you who don't know, Samuel routinely has to
respond to emails like "Why does the Hurd project suck!  Do it right!"
I admit that I once sent him such an email.  Sorry bro.  :(

>
> Samuel
>

--
Joshua Branson
Sent from Emacs and Gnus