> On Sun, 4 Apr 1999, Michael Talbot-Wilson wrote:
> > The most minimal complete Linux system consists of the kernel, some of the
> > utilities in util-linux, a means of remote login and file transfer, a file
> > editor, and the means to develop, test, compile and install all of the
> > preceding.
> >
> > We can quibble over the real proprietorship of the copyright, and the
> > separate issue of licence under the copyright, for all categories but the
> > last. But when we come to real credit for the Linux achievement we should
> > admit that Linux would not exist without the last category. Let me make
> > that plain: Linux would not exist without Richard Stallman.
>
> Why not? Remember, the FSF does not have a monopoly on compilers.
>
> Had gcc not been available, another compiler would probably have been
> used. If that compiler was non-free, how long do you think it would have
> taken until a (semi-)free alternative appeared? The availability of gcc
You are asking how long it would have been before another Linus Torvalds
appeared and took advantage of the particular circumstances that might
have existed at a another particular point in time, if gcc and the GNU
utilities had not existed at the point it time that was important to the
beginning Linux.
This is the only argument I have seen in response to my statement that
Linux would not exist without Richard Stallman, and I have now seen it
several times from several different people.
And the best you can say is "probably". I was talking historical fact.
And asking people to give credit where it is due for what actually
happened. Not to deny credit to Torvalds because of the fanciful notion
that another Torvalds was about to appear, and not to deny credit to
Stallman because of the fanciful notion that another Stallman was about to
appear and invent another FSF.
Obviously, Linux owes a lot to the gifts and skills, including project
management skills, of Linus. It owes as much to the fact that the
circumstances were right at the time. Linus could develop and distribute
code and others could compile and test it in a standard environment. The
quality of the environment was such that some key people were prepared to
take the project seriously and get involved. If it had been Mocka or Tiny
C they would not have, and Linus would soon have channelled his talents
into something else.
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