On Mon, May 02, 2016 at 15:53:52 +0200, Alexander Berntsen wrote: > GNU distributions are distributions that use GNU software.
They are in part GNU software, but phrasing it like that makes it seem like the GNU part of GNU/Linux is only the GNU software. GNU is an entire operating system, not just a set of GNU tools, which is evident from its history: https://gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html > Linux is the operating system. But there's a big group of people who > think that "Linux by itself doesn't do anything, so it isn't an > operating system". I find this to be a puzzling argument. Linux is a very specific project: a kernel. The problem is encouraged by the project itself, though: https://github.com/torvalds/linux "Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net." In any case: if you took GNU+Linux, and subtracted GNU (and everything that includes---see the history page above), you're not going to be left with what most people would consider a useful (or usable) system. > Even GNU+Linux isn't good enough, since Gentoo can run with other > kernels than Linux (and with enough hacking, probably without GNU too). If Gentoo is distributed with Linux, then it's Gentoo GNU/Linux. If it's not, then it's not. For example, there's a Debian GNU/Hurd, and Debian GNU/kFreeBSD. > So to sum up: Say Gentoo. Say Replicant. Say Android. They are all > free distributions, and referring to them as GNU is doing them and GNU > both a disservice. Saying GNU isn't only to give credit to the GNU Project---it also starts a discussion about free software, because people will wonder what GNU is and research it. The kernel Linux does not hold those same values, and you will not expect a discussion of freedom---you would expect a discussion about "open source". Therefore, saying "Gentoo" or "Ubuntu", while true, doesn't help our cause, and is a way to avoid what may would consider to be an awkward discussion entirely. See https://mikegerwitz.com/2016/04/GNU-kWindows for rationale. -- Mike Gerwitz Free Software Hacker | GNU Maintainer & Volunteer https://mikegerwitz.com FSF Member #5804 | GPG Key ID: 0x8EE30EAB
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