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You can call any distro "Linux". Just because you're using GNU software doesn't mean you have to specify it every time you want to talk about your system. Altho
by atahanacar 4y ago
You can call any distro "Linux". Just because you're using GNU software doesn't mean you have to specify it every time you want to talk about your system. Although the best way in my opinion is using the distro's name + Linux.
- moralestapia 4y agoMaybe you're out of the loop but GNU fanatics always make a fuss about "Linux" without the GNU part.
- speedgoose 4y agoRichard Stallman had a whole speech about this. From memory, his main point was that most of a Linux distribution was built with GNU tools and the kernel was only a (key) component of it. So he was asking to say GNU/Linux to show some appreciation.
- saagarjha 4y agoRichard Stallman is right for some things and wrong on many others. His hit rate on naming is generally pretty bad.
- atahanacar 4y agoStallman seems to be somewhat jealous that Linux did what his software couldn't. And I'm saying this as a person who loves GNU software, philosophy and greatly respects Stallman. Just because your used a few GNU build tools, doesn't mean you should call it GNU.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y agoMost distros aren't just using "a few GNU build tools", though - nearly everyone's using bash as their shell, GNU coreutils for basic system tools, and glibc as the underlying libc that runs almost every binary in the system, and I feel like that deserves a mention. Frankly, I think most people would find GNU/kFreeBSD more familiar than Alpine/Linux.
- speedgoose 4y agoAnd GCC.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y agoI was ignoring gcc (and binutils) as build tools.
- saagarjha 4y agoOk, but it’s fine to just ignore their petty naming arguments.
- atahanacar 4y agoI'm definitely not out of the loop. It has been a meme since forever. I also get that parent comment was making a joke.