[GNUz] GNU/Linux ...

[InfoHelp]

Timothy Musson wrote:

>InfoHelp, 2004-07-03 21:07:33:
>  
>
>>On Sat, 2004-07-03 at 15:46, Timothy Musson wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>My take on the naming thing is that, if it hadn't been for the name
>>>"Debian GNU/Linux", I might not have "noticed" the GNU Project so
>>>soon, or realised that they were important. It would've taken me
>>>longer to understand that Free doesn't mean gratis.
>>>      
>>>
>>[...] You seem to be reading the formulation "GNU/Linux" as a tainted
>>GNU, or a conditioned "Linux", where it's better read as an alliance.
>>    
>>
>
>I don't feel that GNU/Linux is a tainted GNU. In fact, Linux's GNU
>General Public License tells me that Linux embodies GNU philosophy every
>bit as much as, say, gcc does :)
>
Me either - it's splitting hairs. Better things to do..

>As for the GNU/* naming convention...
>
>I believe it helps people find out about the GNU project, and then - if
>they're interested - the philosophy behind it. There are other reasons
>as well, but that's the one that makes _me_ bother.
>
>(Having said that, I find it really uncomfortable to _say_ GNU/Linux,
>and usually don't. But I always do bother when I'm _writing_, since in
>writing it's not clumsy at all.)
>
True, it's gobbledegook.
To most tho, both GNU & Linux are equally unhurd (sic ;) of, as we kick 
off a public learning curve.
So now's the best of times to get it straight.

One day, I imagine, we could get both Linus & RMS sitting down together 
to forge a new name/brand for the 'Revolution OS' - and it wouldn't 
delay the growth of "Linux" a jot. In fact, it could greatly be 
capitalised upon to accelerate it. Whether that's necessary, only time 
will tell.

Sentimentality is insufficient support for a misnomer.

>Tim
>  
>
Rik

-- 
GNU/Linux Users - charting the course
prototype4: Mandrake/Fedora/SuSE-Gentoo/LFS-Debian/BSD-GNU/Hurd