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SubjectRe: Linux isn't an operating system
On Wed, 6 Mar 1996, Richard Stallman 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.

Not at all. It's usually a pretty precise term. What unifies Linux users
is the Linux kernel. If we weren't running the Linux kernel, for example,
we might all be running HURD. ;)

> 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.

Linux users use quite a bit of GNU software, and we're all grateful that
it's available. We also use a fair amount of non-GNU software. I don't
believe it's a fair characterization to consider Linux a ``GNU-based
system.'' There are very few cases in which we are using GNU software in
which some alternative doesn't, or couldn't, exist. All kudos to
GNU-*style* licensing, which is another matter entirely....

> 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.

Linux is nothing if not pluralistic. Too much unification is probably not
the most useful thing in the world. It discourages the diversity which has
been one of Linux' strengths.

There are many GNU-based Linux systems. Unless one is a GNU developer,
though, one is less likely to consider one's system a ``Linux-based GNU
system,'' and justifiably so.


lilo


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