Sorry, I couldn't let this one pass. I was using GNU software on
SunOS, 4.XBSD and other UNIX systems years before Linus had heard of Minix
let alone started writing his own UNIX-like kernel. This is like claiming
that the MIT X Windows software, LaTeX, or any number of freely
distributable software packages was useless without a free kernel. I find
it amusing that people want to simplify things so much that they ignore the
very real contributions of others. Free UNIX based software has been widely
used for years.
Linus made a tremendous contribution to this. He provided a
catalyst for the collection of the various free packages floating around on
the net into a working system. He's written some amazing amounts of code,
but more importantly he got people working together. I've watched what
happened with the various BSD projects and think that the way Linus manages
to do this will in the long run be more important to the cause of free
software then the Linux kernel. I hope that all free software projects will
learn from his example.
Richard Stallman wrote much of emacs, gcc, and various other GNU
packages. Still, I think Richard's most significant contribution will have
been the concept of a totally free software system and the creation of the
GPL which encourages people to contribute to such a system without fear of
their work being taken over by others.
Bill Bogstad
bogstad@cs.jhu.edu