cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/5592397
Forty years ago, Richard Stallman announced the plan to develop the GNU operating system, which would be entirely composed of free software. The existence of a free operating system would enable people to operate their computers in freedom, throwing off the power of the developers of nonfree software. The GNU Project has also built the global free software movement.
I would dispute that the kernel is “the most important part of an OS.” It certainly is an important part - but it does nothing by itself, and a user cannot do anything with it.
Anyway, the reason Hurd isn’t a priority anymore is because we have Linux (well, more specifically, Linux-libre). There’s no need to reinvent something that is already available in the free software world.
