GNU Hurd (usually referred to as the Hurd or just Hurd) is the multiserver microkernel written as part of GNU. It has been under development since 1990 by the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation, designed as a replacement for the Unix kernel, and released as free software under the GNU General Public License.

GNU Hurd consists of a set of protocols and server processes (or daemons, in Unix terminology) that run on the GNU Mach microkernel. The Hurd aims to surpass the Unix kernel in functionality, security, and stability, while remaining largely compatible with it. The GNU Project chose the multiserver microkernel for the operating system, due to perceived advantages over the traditional Unix monolithic kernel architecture.

Name and logo

In December 1991 the primary architect of the Hurd described the name as a mutually recursive acronym:

As both hurd and hird are homophones of the English word herd, the full name GNU Hurd is also a play on the words herd of gnus, reflecting how the kernel works. The logo is called the Hurd boxes and it also reflects on architecture. The logo is a graph where nodes represent the Hurd kernel's servers and directed edges are IPC messages.

Hurd is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Hurd (Mongolian: Хурд, [xʊrt], "speed") is a Mongolian rock band. Formed in 1987 as Skorost (Russian: Скорость, [ˈskorəsʲtʲ], also "speed") by drummer Dambyn Ganbayar, Hurd is considered the first band to have introduced the heavy metal genre into the Mongolian music landscape. Along with Chingis Khaan, Kharanga or Niciton, they are considered "veterans" of the Mongolian pop rock scene, and, as such, they have greatly contributed to its diversification and encouraged the emergence of many new rock acts.

Hurd has released seven studio albums, three live albums, and one box set. The band has won numerous Pentatonic Awards (Mongolia's equivalent of the Grammy Award) and Golden Microphone Awards. Guitarist Dambyn Otgonbayar is a member of the Pentatonic Academy. Drummer Dambyn Ganbayar is a board member of the Mongolian Drummers Association.

In November 2009, singer Dambyn Tömörtsog and bassist Namsraijavyn Naranbaatar were respectively awarded with the Merited Artist of Mongolia and the Polar Star awards.