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Re: "MIT/GNU/Linux"
From: |
Stefan Monnier |
Subject: |
Re: "MIT/GNU/Linux" |
Date: |
Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:33:09 -0500 |
User-agent: |
Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.0.91 (gnu/linux) |
>> I believe RMS's use of "GNU" in "GNU/Linux" does not really refer to the
>> so-called GNU tools, but the GNU project which endeavored, long before it
>> seemed even remotely possible, to build a 100% Free Software operating
>> system.
> That's true. However, you should also consider the vastness of how much
> code the GNU Project has produced. Everything from chown to GNOME.
What I meant above is that a vast amount of non-GNU code is Free Software
thanks to the GNU project, so even if "the GNU project"[1] did not
contribute any code to it, its existence as a Free Software is partly due to
the GNU project.
In any case, to a large extent, the only difference between "GNU programs"
and "non-GNU programs" is the extent to which the maintainers agreed to
associate their project's name with the GNU moniker, which is mostly
a political decision.
Stefan
[1] "The GNU project" is much more a concept than a bunch of people.