Windows and Android are universally known as two of the most popular operating systems in existence but what if I told you that there was an operating system...
We are all in Stallman’s debt for his foresight and work on Free software, and especially for the GPL. Even so, I find this particular self-promotion campaign to be overreaching, unnecessary, tedious, and shrill.
So no, I will not call it GNU/Linux, except perhaps in a tiny minority of cases where GNU is actually present and clarification is actually needed.
People who interject with or insist on it are just adding noise to the conversation.
That’s a good point, however I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
We are all in Stallman’s debt for his foresight and work on Free software, and especially for the GPL. Even so, I find this particular self-promotion campaign to be overreaching, unnecessary, tedious, and shrill.
So no, I will not call it GNU/Linux, except perhaps in a tiny minority of cases where GNU is actually present and clarification is actually needed.
People who interject with or insist on it are just adding noise to the conversation.
That’s a good point, however I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
I am calling it Linux (system) and Linux kernel too. This copypasta is a must when talking about the history.
And actually it isn’t Stallman’s quote.
That’s interesting; thanks. (I found one claim that it comes from 4chan.) But it doesn’t really make a difference.
Stallman is not GNU, neither GPL.