Minix 3.2.1 Released

Anyone care to give a very cursory run-down on why someone would look at Minix in this day and age instead of one of the BSDs? Particularly since those release notes mention bringing in the NetBSD build system and much of its userspace.<p>Not to say that I think it's bad to have plenty of unixes floating around - just curious.

There's no need to visit that graveyard to read the actual article, which is here: <a href="http://www.minix3.org/releasenotes-321.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.minix3.org/releasenotes-321.html</a>

I'm only familiar with the QNX microkernel from working in safety-critical systems. I'm really excited for the possibility of an open source microkernel getting some mainstream attention, since the benefits (modularity, reliability, maintainability, security, etc.) of a microkernel are just too real to ignore now.<p>Can someone explain how Minix compares to Hurd? In terms of how far ahead both projects are, the differences in their architecture and visions?

This is my first time hearing about Minix, and the new architecture seems interesting. Are there any other linux distributions that use something similar to Minix's micro-kernel approach, or is this a bit of an oddity?

I can't wait for Minix on the RPi!

Unanswered Question: why Minix?