Stallman and Environmentalists
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| mojavelinux Jun 25, 2004 6:06 AM EDT |
...these two have a lot in common because both of them are right, yet people think they are crazy. Unfortunately, changing peoples' minds often times requires looking like a lunatic. He has a good point. Is he a broken record? Yes. Is it worth playing over and over? Yes. It would be a similar situation if you had a law firm with your partner and in print, only your partner's name was mentioned. Maybe it would be better if we worked on rephrasing the statement. GNU+Linux is hard say, it is hard to write and it looks ugly. What about Linux powered by GNU. Let's see how it would work out. Mandrake Linux 10 and GNU Tools Yeah, we need to follow that train of thought perhaps... |
| IGnatiusTFoobar Jun 25, 2004 8:02 AM EDT |
No. I use the Linux operating system. Linus Torvalds finished what Richard Stallman started but was unable to complete. Stallman gets credit for the compiler (and he doesn't even help with that anymore). Aside from that, he doesn't get naming rights for anything. |
| Void_Main Jun 25, 2004 8:14 AM EDT |
First of all I have to say that I admire Richard. I think the GPL is pure genious. I have used the GNU tools extensively even before there was a Linux. Now having said that I install "much" more software than just the Linux kernel and the GNU tools. I do agree with Richard that the "OS" is made up mostly of the Linux kernel and the GNU system. However, I don't install just an "OS" on my servers and workstations. I install a "distribution". This distribution is made up of the Linux kernel, the GNU utilites, Xorg, KDE as an alternate DE, Perl, Python, Mozilla, Open Office, etc, etc. GNU software is actually a "small" percentage of the distribution that I install. Also, not all software that is licensed under the GPL is "GNU" software. When Richard refers to GNU software he is referring to the pieces that have had copyright signed over. This is the bulk of the very basic OS (glibc, file utils, etc). I actually spent some time one day and calculated all the percentages of what software was installed under what licenses and what percentage specifically was "GNU" software. I was actually surprised at how small the percentage was for GNU software. I think it's on my forum somewhere (or I posted it at another forum). My point is, as much as I agree with Richard (in the area of software Freedom) I am not going to call my distribution GNU/Linux or GNU+Linux. In fact I'm not even going to call it "Red Hat Linux" or "Mandrake Linux" or "Gentoo", etc. I'm not going to call it GNU+Linux+KDE+Python+Perl+OpenOffice+Mozilla. I'm just going to call the distribution as a whole "Linux", because it's easier, I am not dependent on any of the distro vendors so I am against calling my distro by it's vendor's name. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking Richard to stop saying the things he is saying because every time he does, someone who doesn't already know might just get some education and enlightenment about what GNU/Linux, the GPL and software Freedom are all about. They are great things. I thank Richard for his efforts. Thank you Richard, and keep up the fight! This message was edited Jun 25, 2004 11:42 AM |
| dave Jun 25, 2004 8:14 AM EDT |
Actually, Torvalds didn't finish anything. He STARTED that Linux kernel from scratch. Stallman wanted to develop an entire GNU system, but didn't ever achieve the goal. The GNU utils are great, but they are just utils, not the kernel. It all comes down to the idea that, if GNU gets its way, then we'll also have to bow down to everyone else with whom we are including their code in Linux distros. We'll end up with: X.org/OOo.org/GNOME/KDE/GNU/Dave's_Cool_Code/Linux Gimme a break. :) dave |
| dave Jun 25, 2004 8:19 AM EDT |
Void_Main, you and I posted at the same time. We agreed. :) dave |
| Void_Main Jun 25, 2004 8:29 AM EDT |
"Void_Main, you and I posted at the same time. We agreed." I think we do that a lot (agree), but I'm just a little (lot) more "radical". :) |
| dave Jun 25, 2004 8:33 AM EDT |
Radical: "Departing markedly from the usual or customary" Sounds like the story of my life. :) dave |
| tbogart Jun 26, 2004 7:02 PM EDT |
Just a 'me too' sort of thing. Stallman has made great contributions in both software and the ideas behind the movement, but has always been just _that_ much out over the edge for me. If anything, I have thought RSS should be kissing Torvald's , er, extremities. Linux doesn't NEED the GNU utilities, they could always resort to BSD stuff (yuck), but you can't do much of anything with any GNU program without SOME kernel to run them...... And Linus' kernel (and personality) is what has made things such a huge deal. |
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