Linux, GNU and Emacs 19.31
Someone recently posted a long patch file to fix the spelling of Linux
in Emacs 19.31. Well, I just had a look and it is not a spelling
mistake: it is quite intentional. "Lignux" is GNU's new short name for
a "Linux-based GNU system".
I have quoted below the file "emacs-19.31/etc/LINUX-GNU" from the emacs-19.31
distribution. At one point my eyebrows reached my (receeding) hairline
but I read to the end and feel that it ends on a positive note.
This article by RMS is very much related to the two items that appear on
the Debian Project's home page: http://www.debian.org/
Debian's relationship with the FSF:
The FSF's announcement ("The FSF is no longer sponsoring Debian")
"Debian and FSF", the clarification by Debian Project Leader,
Bruce Perens.
=== Start quote of emacs-19.31/etc/LINUX-GNU by RMS ===
Linux and the GNU system
The GNU project started 12 years ago with the goal of developing a
complete free Unix-like operating system. "Free" refers to freedom,
not price; it means you are free to run, copy, distribute, study,
change, and improve the software.
A Unix-like system consists of many different programs. We found some
components already available as free software--for example, X Windows
and TeX. We obtained other components by helping to convince their
developers to make them free--for example, the Berkeley network
utilities. Other components we wrote specifically for GNU--for
example, GNU Emacs, the GNU C compiler, the GNU C library, Bash, and
Ghostscript. The components in this last category are "GNU software".
The GNU system consists of all three categories together.
The GNU project is not just about developing and distributing free
software. The heart of the GNU project is an idea: that software
should be free, and that the users' freedom is worth defending. For
if people have freedom but do not value it, they will not keep it for
long. In order to make freedom last, we have to teach people to value
it.
The GNU project's method is that free software and the idea of users'
freedom support each other. We develop GNU software, and as people
encounter GNU programs or the GNU system and start to use them, they
also think about the GNU idea. The software shows that the idea can
work in practice. People who come to agree with the idea are likely
to write additional free software. Thus, the software embodies the
idea, spreads the idea, and grows from the idea.
This method was working well--until someone combined the Linux kernel
with the GNU system (which still lacked a kernel), and called the
combination a "Linux system."
The Linux kernel is a free Unix-compatible kernel written by Linus
Torvalds. It was not written specifically for the GNU project, but
the Linux kernel and the GNU system work together well. In fact,
adding Linux to the GNU system brought the system to completion: it
made a free Unix-compatible operating system available for use.
But ironically, the practice of calling it a "Linux system" undermines
our method of communicating the GNU idea. At first impression, a
"Linux system" sounds like something completely distinct from the "GNU
system." And that is what most users think it is.
Most introductions to the "Linux system" acknowledge the role played
by the GNU software components. But they don't say that the system as
a whole is more or less the same GNU system that the GNU project has
been compiling for a decade. They don't say that the idea of a free
Unix-like system originates from the GNU project. So most users don't
know these things.
This leads many of those users to identify themselves as a separate
community of "Linux users", distinct from the GNU user community.
They use all of the GNU software; in fact, they use almost all of the
GNU system; but they don't think of themselves as GNU users, and they
may not think about the GNU idea.
It leads to other problems as well--even hampering cooperation on
software maintenance. Normally when users change a GNU program to
make it work better on a particular system, they send the change to
the maintainer of that program; then they work with the maintainer,
explaining the change, arguing for it and sometimes rewriting it, to
get it installed.
But people who think of themselves as "Linux users" are more likely to
release a forked "Linux-only" version of the GNU program, and consider
the job done. We want each and every GNU program to work "out of the
box" on Linux-based systems; but if the users do not help, that goal
becomes much harder to achieve.
So how should the GNU project respond? What should we do now to
spread the idea that freedom for computer users is important?
We should continue to talk about the freedom to share and change
software--and to teach other users to value these freedoms. If we
enjoy having a free operating system, it makes sense for us to think
about preserving those freedoms for the long term. If we enjoy having
a variety of free software, it makes sense for to think about
encouraging others to write additional free software, instead of
additional proprietary software.
We should not accept the splitting of the community in two. Instead
we should spread the word that "Linux systems" are variant GNU
systems--that users of these systems are GNU users, and that they
ought to consider the GNU philosophy which brought these systems into
existence.
This article is one way of doing that. Another way is to use the
terms "Linux-based GNU system" (or "GNU/Linux system" or "Lignux" for
short) to refer to the combination of the Linux kernel and the GNU
system.
Copyright 1996 Richard Stallman
Verbatim copying and redistribution is permitted
without royalty as long as this notice is preserved.
=== End quote of emacs-19.31/etc/LINUX-GNU by RMS ===
--
...RickM...
Reply to: