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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mar 6, 2006 3:18 PM
Subject: Linux or GNU/Linux? -- Debateable... What was Richard Stallman thinking?
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[this is interesting...] read on!
here is the GNU/Linux part:
-by Richard Stallman
Names convey meanings; our choice of names determines the meaning of what
we say. An inappropriate name gives people the wrong idea.If you call our
operating system "Linux", that conveys a mistaken idea of the system's
origin, history, and purpose. If you call it GNU/Linux, that conveys
(though not in detail) an accurate idea.
But does this matter for our community? Is it important whether people
know the system's origin, history, and purpose? Yes--because people who
forget history are often condemned to repeat it. The Free World which has
developed around GNU/Linux is not secure; the problems that led us to
develop GNU are not completely eradicated, and they threaten to come back.
... read more http://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html
---------------------------------------------------
And this is what 'Linux is not GNU/Linux' say:
Why Linux (and not GNU/Linux)
Atul Chitnis
Understand that there is a difference between GNU software and GPL'd
software.
Many people think that everything GPL'd is GNU software, which is simply
not true. GNU software is *only* that which is listed as part of the GNU
project. A list of all GNU software can easily be seen here.
If you take a standard Linux distribution, and list out all the packages
there, you will find a fair amount of GNU software, agreed.
However, you will find a *MUCH* larger number of packages that are GPL'd,
but which do not appear in the list of GNU projects/software. And this
list of non-GNU software is *far* longer than the GNU content.
Now how does one go about being fair?
By calling it "GNU/Linux", you are giving credit to GNU, which *is* a part
contributor to the distribution, but by no stretch of imagination the
*only* (or even the largest) one.
READ MORE: http://atulchitnis.net/writings/gnulinux.php
~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
{This ones awesome}
No, Richard, it's 'Linux', not 'GNU/Linux'.
Following are some reasons for you to mull over, including some already
answered in your FAQ.
* One guy, Linus Torvalds, used GCC to make his operating system (yes,
Linux is an OS -- more on this later). He named it 'Linux' with a
little help from his friends. Why doesn't he call it GNU/Linux?
Because he wrote it, with more help from his friends, not you. You
named your stuff, I named my stuff -- including the software I wrote
using GCC -- and Linus named his stuff. The proper name is Linux
because Linus Torvalds says so. Linus has spoken. Accept his
authority.
*(An operating system) != (a distribution). Linux is an operating
system. By my definition, an operating system is that software which
provides and limits access to hardware resources on a computer. That
definition applies whereever you see Linux in use. However, Linux is
usually distributed with a collection of utilities and applications to
make it easily configurable as a desktop system, a server, a
development box, or a graphics workstation, or whatever the user
needs. In such a configuration, we have a Linux (based) distribution.
* Next, even if we limit the GNU/Linux title to the GNU-based Linux
distributions, we run into another obvious problem. XFree86 may well
be more important to a particular Linux installation than the sum of
all the GNU contributions. More properly, shouldn't the distribution
be called XFree86/Linux? Or, at a minimum, XFree86/GNU/Linux? Of
course, it would be rather arbitrary to draw the line there when many
other fine contributions go unlisted. Yes, I know you've heard this
one before. Get used to it. You'll keep hearing it until you can
cleanly counter it.
* You seem to like the lines-of-code metric. There are many lines of
GNU code in a typical Linux distribution. You seem to suggest that
(more LOC) == (more important). However, I submit to you that raw LOC
numbers do not directly correlate with importance. I would suggest that
clock cycles spent on code is a better metric. For example, if my
system spends 90% of its time executing XFree86 code, XFree86 is
probably the single most important collection of code on my system.
Even if I loaded ten times as many lines of useless bloatware on my
system and I never excuted that bloatware, it certainly isn't more
important code than XFree86. Obviously, this metric isn't perfect
either, but LOC really, really sucks. Please refrain from using it ever
again in supporting any argument.
* * Last, I'd like to point out that we Linux and GNU users
shouldn't be fighting among ourselves over naming other people's
software. But what the heck, I'm in a bad mood now. I think I'm feeling
sufficiently obnoxious to make the point that GCC is so very famous
and, yes, so very useful only because Linux was developed. In a show of
proper respect and gratitude, shouldn't you and everyone refer to GCC
as 'the Linux compiler'? Or at least, 'Linux GCC'? Seriously, where
would your masterpiece be without Linux? Languishing with the HURD?
If there is a moral buried in this rant, maybe it is this:
Be grateful for your abilities and your incredible success and your
considerable fame. Continue to use that success and fame for good, not
evil. Also, be especially grateful for Linux' huge contribution to that
success. You, RMS, the Free Software Foundation, and GNU software have
reached their current high profiles largely on the back of Linux. You have
changed the world. Now, go forth and don't be a nag.
Thanks for listening.
--
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed,
and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart,
but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass;
he shall have whatever he saith.
-- MARK 11:23
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