RMS replies...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 20:38:12 -0700 (MST)
From: Richard Stallman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [EUG-LUG:1298] Re: flame wars and GNU/Linux
require login, make it customisable.
That won't be very user-friendly, though.
"Do you prefer to call the software system made up of the Linux kernel and
the GNU userland tools
GNU is not a collection of tools, GNU is an operating system.
Describing GNU as a collection of "tools" is one of the ways people
minimize GNU.
Many GNU programs are tools, but not all. The word "tool" has a
meaning that can stretch to some extent--you could maybe say that BASH
is a tool, though I would not normally say so. Writers stretch the
word to try to justify using it, but then their readers interpret the
word in a narrower sense. So "tools" is the gateway to a path that
leads predictably to misinforming people.
Anyway, you can hardly stretch the word "tool" far enough to include
GNU libc, Gtypist, GNU Chess and GNOME.
a. Linux []
b. GNU/Linux []
If you want to do this, you can, but I'd consider the group more of a
LUG than a GLUG.
I suspect that RMS has taken to using this as a test of ideological purity
It's not about purity in the abstract, it's about whether you spread
the confusion that hampers our work, or help correct it. See
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html for why this makes a
difference.
If you want to call the system "Linux", as an ACLU member I defend
your right to do so. But it isn't the right thing to do, and it's not
helping us.
