The alternative of the alternative

[cobito]

It is well known that Linux is a minority operating system where in the most optimistic surveys it barely reaches 2% of desktop use, but which usually hovers around 1-1.2%, being the third most used operating system after Windows and MacOS X. That is, almost no one uses it.

That is why it is considered an alternative: an alternative mainly to Windows. A system that offers many of the functions that Windows offers for the desktop and that has added advantages of being free software. And those advantages, for some, are a sufficient reason for it to be a viable substitute for Windows for most tasks.

But in the underworld of desktop operating systems there are others much less known, most Unix-like (POSIX) that do not even appear in the surveys because only a few use them.

Once we delve into that underworld of POSIX operating systems for the desktop, we see that Linux goes from having a barely appreciable presence to being the most used system in this field. But what are the alternatives?

Well, there are several quite famous ones like NetBSD, or Opensolaris (which unfortunately stopped receiving support a few years ago). And of those, there is one that is a purely GNU project from the beginning and that we could say is "the Linux of unix-like systems for the desktop". It is called Hurd.

Well, yesterday Debian released the new version of Hurd 2013. It is an experimental operating system that will barely work on a virtual machine (forget about making it work on a modern PC), but according to this article it is not going in the wrong direction in terms of performance.

And all this for what purpose? For nothing; general culture :ugly:

You can download it from here: Index of /debian-cd/hurd-i386/debian-hurd-2013

[Elfo]

I have been following the development of Hurd since Debian Potato almost. I found it to be one of the most interesting initiatives in the world of Free Software and I am glad to know that little by little it is taking shape. That is what I like about the environment: nothing is lost, it is accessible to anyone and you never know when or how the development of certain applications or libraries will continue.

Regarding the world of alternatives and so on, I really do not conceive of the Internet without Debian (for its impact on servers) or without its philosophy. It is true that for the consumer or the end client the options are Windows or OS X, but for pure commercial immersion (a concept that I just invented xD).

Just two examples of the importance of Debian and GNU/Linux in the world of technology: Ubuntu (in the aspect of achieving a commercial model comparable to that of RedHat but oriented to the end user who comes from Windows) and Android (in the aspect of having laid the foundations for everything that today is "smart" telephony).

[cobito]

@Elfo:

I've been following the development of Hurd since Debian Potato almost. I thought it was one of the most interesting initiatives in the Free Software world and I'm glad to know that little by little it's taking shape. That's what I like about the environment: nothing is lost, it's accessible to anyone and you never know when or how the development of certain applications or libraries will continue.

Regarding the world of alternatives and so on, I really can't imagine the Internet without Debian (for its impact on servers) or without its philosophy. It's true that for the consumer or the end client the options are Windows or OS X, but for pure commercial immersion (a concept I just invented xD).

Just two examples of the importance of Debian and GNU/Linux in the world of technology: Ubuntu (in the aspect of achieving a commercial model comparable to RedHat but oriented to the end user who comes from Windows) and Android (in the aspect of having laid the foundations for everything that today is "smart" telephony).

Well, in the non-domestic segment, Linux is a leader. For example, in the TOP 500, it's rare to find a supercomputing center that isn't powered by Linux.

[Elfo]

I love going through the archives of the Debian project and seeing the impact it had on sectors like animated film and the milestone that Toy Story marked, or that it was the first OS that ran space material in space, among many other things. The history of GNU/Linux is so dense and full of "battlefronts" that from time to time it is worth remembering (especially to those unfamiliar with what free software represents) feats that today seem small but that at the time were revolutionary.

A trivia about this would be awesome