Messages in this thread | | | Date | Wed, 6 Mar 1996 17:18:35 -0500 (EST) | From | Jauder Ho <> | Subject | Re: Linux isn't an operating system |
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Hence I submit the term "GNU based Linux system" =)
--Jauder
On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, lilo wrote:
> On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, Richard Stallman wrote: > > > I would expect that most of the people who speak of "the Linux > > operating system" think of this as just a minor lack of precision. > > Not at all. It's usually a pretty precise term. What unifies Linux users > is the Linux kernel. If we weren't running the Linux kernel, for example, > we might all be running HURD. ;) > > > But aside from being unfair (which by itself would not be worth > > fussing about), it also tends to split the community and thus > > discourage communication and cooperation. When the people who use > > what is essentially the GNU system think of themselves as "Linux > > users", and not as "GNU users", often they don't see a reason > > cooperate with the people who maintain the GNU software. This leads > > to version-skew and unnecessary incompatibility. > > Linux users use quite a bit of GNU software, and we're all grateful that > it's available. We also use a fair amount of non-GNU software. I don't > believe it's a fair characterization to consider Linux a ``GNU-based > system.'' There are very few cases in which we are using GNU software in > which some alternative doesn't, or couldn't, exist. All kudos to > GNU-*style* licensing, which is another matter entirely.... > > > One way to help unify the community, and gently encourage more > > cooperation, is to use the term "Linux-based GNU system" to > > describe these systems more accurately. > > Linux is nothing if not pluralistic. Too much unification is probably not > the most useful thing in the world. It discourages the diversity which has > been one of Linux' strengths. > > There are many GNU-based Linux systems. Unless one is a GNU developer, > though, one is less likely to consider one's system a ``Linux-based GNU > system,'' and justifiably so. > > > lilo > >
NOTE: The Most Fundamental Particles in This Message Are Held Together by a 'Gluing' Force About Which Little Is Currently Known and Whose Adhesive Power Can Therefore Not be Permanently Guaranteed.
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