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I understand why Stallman wants the GNU in GNU/Linux. But what's always confusing me is - why the slash? He's a programmer, so he knows that this is usually use
by coffeeaddicted 18y ago
I understand why Stallman wants the GNU in GNU/Linux. But what's always confusing me is - why the slash? He's a programmer, so he knows that this is usually used for paths. But that does not seem to make sense if he wants this as a single name which should always be used. You can't create a single GNU/Linux folder - at least not in GNU/Linux. So anyone know why he didn't use another character there?
- mojuba 18y agoProbably because GNU Linux without slash would mean there may be another Linux also that's not GNU. And yes, GNU/Linux reads like a path: here is the GNU world and here's Linux subworld.
- huhtenberg 18y ago> .. there may be another Linux also that's not GNU Technically there may be one. While the history of Hurd shows that the opposite is not quite true. So all things considered it should really be Linux/GNU :-)
- gaius 18y agoThere are distros with BSD or Solaris kernels and a GNU userland.
- tjr 18y agohttp://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#whyslash http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#whyslash We're talking about a version of GNU, the operating system, distinguished by having Linux as the kernel. A slash fits the situation because it means “combination.” (Think of “Input/Output”.) This system is the combination of GNU and Linux; hence, “GNU/Linux”. There are other ways to express “combination”. If you think that a plus-sign is clearer, please use that. In French, a hyphen is clear: “GNU-Linux”. In Spanish, we sometimes say “GNU con Linux”.