On Wed, Apr 21, 1999 at 11:34:33AM +0200, Josip Rodin wrote: > When was Debian distribution first named "Debian GNU/Linux"? > Was it while the FSF was sponsoring the project? It was named Debian GNU/Linux almost from the very beginning, in 1993. Ian Murdock had just started work on Debian, as a pretty much one-man operation, and had posted about this prospective distribution to USENET. Shortly thereafter, to his surprise, he found mail from RMS in his mailbox, offering him a cash grant to get Debian off the ground. In early-mid 1996, three important things happened: 1) Ian Murdock stepped down as project leader (more or less resigning as a developer in the process), appointing Bruce Perens as his successor 2) A bit of a rift developed between the FSF and Debian -- over technical issues like documentation, not stuff like software licenses -- and the Debian product was renamed to Debian Linux, dropping the GNU to symbolize the split with the FSF. 3) The first official release of Debian, version 1.1 (because InfoMagic screwed up and soiled the reputation of 1.0 before it was even released), was made. Even though Debian was an FSF-sponsored project from early on, I don't believe it was ever an official FSF project -- so RMS didn't put up the fight over it that he did with the Xemacs or EGCS forks. Debian Linux was, after a while (for 1.3?), renamed GNU/Linux to give proper acknowledgement to the significance of GNU software in forming the core of the operating system. Nowadays, the relationship between RMS and Debian is much warmer, possibly because the success of GNU/Linux systems in general over the past few years have made RMS realize that we can't let sqabbles over shipping documentation in texinfo format or not stand in the way of World Domination. :) Seriously though, I don't know in detail the reasons for the breach with RMS or for the thaw in relations. There are probably some other folks out there who can give a better history lesson; I've only been using Debian since 0.93R6, and only a developer for a little over a year. -- G. Branden Robinson | Debian GNU/Linux | Mob rule isn't any prettier just because branden@ecn.purdue.edu | you call your mob a government. cartoon.ecn.purdue.edu/~branden/ |
Attachment:
pgp9DgjFntyIq.pgp
Description: PGP signature