Re: Linux isn't an operating system

Snow Cat (snowcat@math.csufresno.edu)
Thu, 7 Mar 1996 11:47:41 -0800 (PST)


Richard Stallman once wrote:
>
> I would expect that most of the people who speak of "the Linux
> operating system" think of this as just a minor lack of precision.
>
> But aside from being unfair (which by itself would not be worth
> fussing about), it also tends to split the community and thus
> discourage communication and cooperation. When the people who use
> what is essentially the GNU system think of themselves as "Linux
> users", and not as "GNU users", often they don't see a reason
> cooperate with the people who maintain the GNU software. This leads
> to version-skew and unnecessary incompatibility.
>

This would be completely unfair to people who wrote programs outside the
GNU project that are used by most Linux users. The compiler and standard
commands like "cp" are from GNU project, but most networking stuff is from
BSD, X windows are from X consortum, and on my system I even have a couple
of commercial programs like "netscape" and "executor".

There is no way Linux can develop without occasionally breaking some of those
programs and I don't see why GNU programs should be treated differently from
others. Besides, GNU software is supposed to be POSIX-compatible and shouldn't
break when libc changes non-POSIX features :)

> One way to help unify the community, and gently encourage more
> cooperation, is to use the term "Linux-based GNU system" to
> describe these systems more accurately.
>

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