7 ms·

> 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 fr

> 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. To do otherwise is to become a nag. The proper name of "Linux" (the kernel) is indeed Linux, because Linus has said so and everyone, including RMS agrees, no one insists on calling Linux (the kernel) GNU/Linux, as there's no GNU in there and it would be pretty silly on insisting on calling it GNU/Linux. Also, GCC is hardly the only critical GNU component that modern GNU/Linux systems rely on, but even so, it's not that anyone wants to name your program GNU/something just because it was compiled with GCC, rather is that Linux is the kernel, GNU is the userland. To make a functional system, you do need a kernel (Linux) and the userland (ie GNU), so if you're using both components and one is called GNU and the other Linux, it's fair to call the result GNU/Linux.

xj9 10y ago
userspace is really easy to swap out. linux is the actual important part. what is gnu without linux? nothing. i can use suckless coreutils, llvm, and musl and still have a functional linux system. i don't need gnu for anything.
- AsyncAwait 10y ago
  Not totally true, ie you still very much need GCC to compile the kernel, but sure - you can also do the reverse with Linux and run the GNU userland on a different kernel, then it will not be called GNU/Linux, (see Debian & Android), however WHEN you're using the GNU user land with Linux, it'll be nice to call it properly as GNU/Linux, that's all. It's still the most popular free set of packages, (there's a reason even MS used the GNU userland in LSFW), and thus giving it some credit for starting and substantially contributing to the free software movement by adopting the GNU/Linux naming convention, (Only when GNU is indeed used, of course), is the least thing we could do. The reason RMS wants people to do this is not to take more credit for himself than is due, but to bring more attention to "free software", (which GNU promotes), as opposed to just "open-source" (which Linus promotes).
  - xj9 10y ago
    i understand what he is trying to do, but i think he should focus his attention on, i don't know, actually shipping his GNU operating system. or perhaps building compelling products that are free software. free software enabled open source to eat the world, but they, themselves, are not doing the eating. i'm saying, shut the fuck up with this pedantic shit and make something that people want. our competitors are multi-billion dollar companies. we can't just promote ideas, we actually have to fight head to head. most people aren't ideologically driven, they just buy whatever seems best/most convenient. focus on actual measurable things like marketshare. how many people are getting the four freedoms? that's the goal, right? so measure it. free software has benefits, but they aren't being marketed aggressively enough to actually reach consumers. we have all of the pieces, but no vision or marketing strategy. strong copyleft provides equal protection for IP as proprietary licensing, especially when you consider AGPL. charge for shit. make it sexy. whatever you have to do to make money and spread free software. sue over license infringement. fight, damnit!

xj9 10y ago

userspace is really easy to swap out. linux is the actual important part. what is gnu without linux? nothing. i can use suckless coreutils, llvm, and musl and still have a functional linux system. i don't need gnu for anything.

AsyncAwait 10y ago
Not totally true, ie you still very much need GCC to compile the kernel, but sure - you can also do the reverse with Linux and run the GNU userland on a different kernel, then it will not be called GNU/Linux, (see Debian & Android), however WHEN you're using the GNU user land with Linux, it'll be nice to call it properly as GNU/Linux, that's all. It's still the most popular free set of packages, (there's a reason even MS used the GNU userland in LSFW), and thus giving it some credit for starting and substantially contributing to the free software movement by adopting the GNU/Linux naming convention, (Only when GNU is indeed used, of course), is the least thing we could do. The reason RMS wants people to do this is not to take more credit for himself than is due, but to bring more attention to "free software", (which GNU promotes), as opposed to just "open-source" (which Linus promotes).
- xj9 10y ago
  i understand what he is trying to do, but i think he should focus his attention on, i don't know, actually shipping his GNU operating system. or perhaps building compelling products that are free software. free software enabled open source to eat the world, but they, themselves, are not doing the eating. i'm saying, shut the fuck up with this pedantic shit and make something that people want. our competitors are multi-billion dollar companies. we can't just promote ideas, we actually have to fight head to head. most people aren't ideologically driven, they just buy whatever seems best/most convenient. focus on actual measurable things like marketshare. how many people are getting the four freedoms? that's the goal, right? so measure it. free software has benefits, but they aren't being marketed aggressively enough to actually reach consumers. we have all of the pieces, but no vision or marketing strategy. strong copyleft provides equal protection for IP as proprietary licensing, especially when you consider AGPL. charge for shit. make it sexy. whatever you have to do to make money and spread free software. sue over license infringement. fight, damnit!