Re: Is the debian-doc kfreeBSD-ready?
Hi
On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 08:34:52AM +0200, Robert Millan wrote:
> El 11 d’abril de 2012 5:24, David Prévot <taffit@debian.org> ha escrit:
> > Hi kFreeBSD folks, Hurd folks CC.
> >
> > After taking care of the website (mostly changing “Debian GNU/Linux” to
> > a simple “Debian” where it's accurate), we are wondering if our Debian
> > documentation is kFreeBSD-ready, i.e. can we safely drop “GNU/Linux”, or
> > do we need to tweak the documentation first?
maybe ...
> I can't answer your question, however I wanted to comment something
> about one of the proposed texts:
>
> | Debian is a free operating system (OS) for your computer. An operating
> | system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your
> | computer run. Debian uses the Linux or FreeBSD kernel (the core of an
> | operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU
> | project; hence the name Debian GNU/Linux or Debian GNU/kFreeBSD.
>
> This is saying that FreeBSD is a kernel, and that Debian uses it. But
> that's not true. Debian doesn't use FreeBSD, only a small part of it
> (its kernel, plus some bits of kernel-related code). The phrase
> "kernel of FreeBSD" (or its abbreviation, "kFreeBSD") is often used to
> refer to the situation unambigously.
Very good point.
I also think placing equivalent weight for GNU/Linux and GNU/kFreeBSD
might skew the reality. Just because we released GNU/kFreeBSD does not
make it to gain the completely equivalent status as GNU/Linux. When we
look at the recent sysyemd/upstart/sysvint discussion, this is obvious.
Now we have:
| Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel.
| Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by
| thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system
| including a kernel and other software.
|
| However, work is in progress to provide Debian for other kernels,
| primarily for the Hurd. The Hurd is a collection of servers that run on
| top of a microkernel (such as Mach) to implement different features. The
| Hurd is free software produced by the GNU project.
|
| A large part of the basic tools that fill out the operating system come
| from the GNU project; hence the names: GNU/Linux, GNU/kFreeBSD and
| GNU/Hurd. These tools are also free.
I think adding some historical context should make this balanced. I
propose the following to keep this part not too long:
| Debian system was created as the Free operating system initially on the
| i386 PC platform using the Linux kernel started by Linus Torvalds with
| many system tools from the GNU project. Thus Debian was initially called
| as "Debian GNU/Linux".
|
| Since then, Debian has been ported to various hardware platforms and
| Free kernel platforms.
|
| Debian has released its ports using the kernel from FreeBSD project with
| the same set of GNU tools as "Debian GNU/kFreeBSD".
|
| There are activities in progress to port Debian system to the Hurd from
| GNU project as "Debian GNU/Hurd". Hurd is a collection of servers that
| run on top of a microkernel (such as Mach).
This way, a change in future for "Debian GNU/kFreeBSD" or "Debian
GNU/Hurd" only requires to change one paragraph.
(My initial proposal we a bit too much to put all Debian GNU/* together.)
Osamu
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