Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!amdahl!pacbell!hoptoad!gnu
From: gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: FSF MACH?
Message-ID: <5715@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 21 Oct 88 11:29:50 GMT
References: <354@thor.wright.EDU>
Organization: Grasshopper Group in San Francisco
Lines: 27

[This is a bit out of place here, as it concerns Mach and GNU, not NeXT.]

The MACH project intends to release a version of Mach this fall that
only contains the locally-written parts (e.g. the message passing
kernel).  The "MACH" kernel that people are running today contains this
(relatively small) code as well as just about the entire 4.3BSD
kernel.  By breaking out the non-AT&T-derived parts, CMU will allow
people who don't have Unix source licenses to work on and with Mach --
particularly the GNU project.

Berkeley has released their locally written kernel networking code and
is preparing to release the networking utility programs and libraries
too.  This freely available code can be glued back into the freely
available Mach kernel.  Other major pieces will need to be added (e.g.
a file system, the rest of the Posix system calls, I/O drivers) to make
a functioning Unix-like kernel; the Free Software Foundation is working
on these.

The most necessary utility programs have already been developed --
shell, compiler subsystem, and text editor.  Running these and a free
window system on a bare bones kernel, individuals will be able to build
the parts of the Unix environment (or any other) that they miss the
most, and contribute them back to the project.
-- 
John Gilmore    {sun,pacbell,uunet,pyramid,amdahl}!hoptoad!gnu    gnu@toad.com
		Noriega-Bush in '88 -- a *crack* team.  
Let's put the white powder (CIA = Cocaine Import Agency) in the white house!