Debian GNU/Hurd 2025 Is Here with Full 64-Bit Support After 2 Years
The Debian GNU/Hurd development team has announced the release of version 2025. While not an official release of the core Debian distribution, it marks the official publication of the GNU/Hurd port, synchronized with the “sid” branch as of the stable Debian 13 “Trixie” release in August 2025.
Installation ISO images are available from the project’s servers in NETINST format for the i386 and amd64 architectures, as well as preconfigured disk images designed for convenient deployment in virtual machines, such as QEMU. Currently, approximately 72% of the packages from Debian’s main repository are available for GNU/Hurd, with this number steadily increasing.
The most significant advancement is the full integration of 64-bit support, offering the same package set as the 32-bit edition—and in some cases, an even broader selection thanks to 64-bit–exclusive applications. This capability has been implemented using user-space storage drivers from NetBSD via the Rump kernel layer. The system now supports extended attributes (xattr) for translator recording, simplifying installations from other operating systems. Rust has been ported, USB storage devices and CD-ROMs are now supported, SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) performance has been improved, and the console now uses XKB for keyboard layouts and can operate with a framebuffer passed through multiboot. Additional enhancements include ACPI, RTC, APIC, and HPET support, improved documentation, and numerous bug fixes addressing issues such as interrupt handling, NFSv3, and pipes.
The developers encourage enthusiasts to contribute to the project, noting that, over the years, relatively few people have worked on GNU/Hurd, yet the contribution of each has been invaluable.
