On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 3:17 PM, james mathew <[email protected]> wrote: >> Technically, GNU project's contribution to FLOSS is quite awesome; >> that said, it is still one of the many other projects out there that >> comprise what is commonly called a "Linux distro". >> >> If Mac OS X uses GCC and/or other GNU tools, should we also start >> calling Mac OS X as "GNU/Mac OS X" or "Mac GNU/OS X" ? What about if >> GNU tools are installed on a Windows box ? > > > The free software that you see today, the free knowledge initiatives > like wikipedia, all owes its very existence to the GNU project and the > Free Software movement started by RMS. It is not just "one of the many > other projects out there" as you said.
So much for modification of history ... RMS did put "free software" (whatever that means) on a solid foundation; he and his group gave solid names to concepts that already existed. History of GNU itself points to that (re printer job control software that were once "free" suddenly became "non-free" or some such story). Even the patent system is an evolution above a previous system that relied on keeping (trade) secrets. In a sense it made knowledge "free" in return for a limited-time monopoly on its use. As for free knowledge, etc ... a look at Indian literature over the centuries also shows how significant works were "free" in the sense of FLOSS, but without the loaded terms or wierd licenses. RMS and GNU project gave this a solid foundation; their technical contributions are also awesome as said before. At the same time, a given Linux distro contains a lot more than just ideas and software from GNU. It also contains the concept of "open source" as codified by OSI and software like Python. So shall we name the software GNU/OSI/Linux ? Regards Rajeev J Sebastian --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ "Freedom is the only law". "Freedom Unplugged" http://www.ilug-tvm.org You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ilug-tvm" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For details visit the website: www.ilug-tvm.org or the google group page: http://groups.google.com/group/ilug-tvm?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
