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Linux is not gnu/linux

4 pointsby z0aalmost 10 years ago

1 comment

tzsalmost 10 years ago
The most historically accurate way to describe things is to use &quot;GNU&quot; as a specification. Any system that meets the FSF&#x27;s definition of a GNU system could then reasonably be described as a GNU system.<p>A GNU system built using a Linux kernel would then reasonably be called a GNU&#x2F;Linux system, but that would not be the <i>name</i> the system. It would be a statement that it is a Linux system that meets the GNU specification.<p>The naming rights to a system historically go to whoever puts it together. So the complete system that Red Hat sells is the Red Hat Enterprise Linux system. That&#x27;s its name, because Red Hat put it together so they get naming rights.<p>The complete system my past employer, Interactive Systems Corporation, sold that consisted of System V ported by us from the 3B2 sources to the 80386 was a UNIX system, but its name was 386&#x2F;ix. We are the ones who put it together, so we got to pick the name, even though very significant components came from outside.<p>When describing the system named Red Hat Enterprise Linux by capabilities rather than be name, then it can be called a GNU&#x2F;Linux system because it satisfies the functional requirements to be a GNU system.<p>For giving credit to those who provided the components you used to build your system, the traditional place to do this would be in the documentation and if you have a GUI in the &quot;about&quot; box of some major GUI component, such as whatever corresponds to Apple&#x27;s Finder or Window&#x27;s Explorer on your system.