#[1]Edit this page [2]copyright

   [3]GNU Hurd/ [4]faq/ How many developers are working on the GNU Hurd, and why so
   few?
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How Many Developers?

   Literally only one handful works on the core of the system in their free time,
   and another handful helps with [36]Debian GNU/Hurd and [37]Arch Hurd packaging.
   Also, an additional handful of former developers are still available for
   answering technical questions, but are not participating in the current
   development anymore.

   In the past (that is, a lot of years ago), the FSF did pay a few developers for
   working full time on the GNU Hurd. But that was for a limited amount of time
   only, and evidently, it was too little for getting the system into a competitive
   state. Nowadays, it's only unpaid (apart from some [38]bounties) and free-time
   volunteers' work.

   In contrast to the Linux kernel, there is no industry involvement in development.
   For one, this is a good thing: independency; no conflicts of interests. For
   another, it is also a bad thing: no dedicated full-time manpower -- which matters
   a lot.

   This also answers the question why [[the Hurd still does not do [...] after so
   many years of development|so_many_years]].

Why So Few?

   We can only speculate. One major problem might be that the [39]architectural
   benefits are generally perceived as very abstract, with little practical benefit.
   We currently don't have many tools that are actually making use of all the
   possibilities.

   Another reason is that it's been taking too long. Today, most people don't
   believe it will ever be ready for production use, and thus would consider
   involvement a waste of time. This latter point is invalid, of course, as learning
   can never be a waste of time. The same holds for the [40]challenges raised by the
   GNU Hurd -- we can only learn and improve upon working on them.

   For likely the same reasons there is no industry interest in the GNU Hurd: its
   advantages are too abstract and incomplete for being of interest there.

   As for the scientific sector, the GNU Hurd projects was rather about using a
   [41]microkernel intead of doing research on them, for example. But, there have
   been some projects and theses done, and some scientific papers published on GNU
   Hurd topics, and we're generally very interested in further such projects.

Attracting New Faces

   We're an open project: any interested party (you!) are very welcome to start
   [42]contributing. Mentoring is possible, too, to help you get started.

   Likewise, for reaching out to new developers, we're participating in [43]Google's
   Summer of Code program.

   As el_presidente commented on
   [44]http://lwn.net/Articles/568745/#CommAnchor568780:

     Developers, developers, developers, developers.

     They are the people that matter at this point in time.

   Tags: [45]faq/ important [46]faq/general
   Links: [47]index [48]news/2011-q2-ps [49]open issues/mission statement
   [50]release [51]so many years

   Copyright © 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   License:

   [52]GFDL 1.2+

   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 [53]GNU Free Documentation License.
   Last edited 2016-08-16 18:15:38 UTC

References

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   2. http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/faq/how_many_developers.html#pagecopyright
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  40. http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/challenges.html
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  52. http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/faq/how_many_developers.html#faq-how-many-developers.license
  53. http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/fdl.html