Commit | Line | Data |
---|---|---|
1bac2ebb DL |
1 | Linux and the GNU system |
2 | ||
d3cdc6d0 RS |
3 | The GNU project started in 1984 with the goal of developing a complete |
4 | free Unix-like operating system: GNU. "Free" refers to freedom, not | |
5 | price; it means you are free to run, copy, distribute, study, change, | |
6 | and improve the software. | |
1bac2ebb DL |
7 | |
8 | A Unix-like system consists of many different programs. We found some | |
9 | components already available as free software--for example, X Windows | |
10 | and TeX. We obtained other components by helping to convince their | |
11 | developers to make them free--for example, the Berkeley network | |
d3cdc6d0 RS |
12 | utilities. This left many missing components that we had to write in |
13 | order to produce GNU--for example, GNU Emacs, the GNU C compiler, the | |
14 | GNU C library, Bash, and Ghostscript. The GNU system consists of all | |
15 | these components together. | |
1bac2ebb DL |
16 | |
17 | The GNU project is not just about developing and distributing some | |
18 | useful free software. The heart of the GNU project is an idea: that | |
d3cdc6d0 RS |
19 | software should be free, that software users should have freedom to |
20 | participate in a community. To run your computer, you need an | |
21 | operating system; if it is not free, your freedom has been denied. To | |
22 | have freedom, you need a free operating system. We therefore set out | |
23 | to write one. | |
24 | ||
25 | In the long run, though, we cannot expect to keep the free operating | |
26 | system free unless the users are aware of the freedom it gives them, | |
27 | and value that freedom. People who do not appreciate their freedom | |
28 | will not keep it long. If we want to make freedom last, we need to | |
29 | spread awareness of the freedoms they have in free software. | |
1bac2ebb DL |
30 | |
31 | The GNU project's method is that free software and the idea of users' | |
32 | freedom support each other. We develop GNU software, and as people | |
33 | encounter GNU programs or the GNU system and start to use them, they | |
34 | also think about the GNU idea. The software shows that the idea can | |
35 | work in practice. Some of these people come to agree with the idea, | |
36 | and then they are more likely to write additional free software. | |
37 | Thus, the software embodies the idea, spreads the idea, and grows from | |
38 | the idea. | |
39 | ||
d3cdc6d0 RS |
40 | Early on in the development of GNU, various parts of it became popular |
41 | even though users needed proprietary systems to run them on. Porting | |
42 | the system to many systems and maintaining them required a lot of | |
43 | work. After that work, most GNU software is easily configured for a | |
44 | variety of different platforms. | |
1bac2ebb | 45 | |
d3cdc6d0 RS |
46 | By 1991, we had found or written all of the essential major components |
47 | of the system except the kernel, which we were writing. (This kernel | |
48 | consists of the Mach microkernel plus the GNU HURD. The first test | |
49 | release was made in 1996. Now, in 2002, it is running well, and | |
50 | Hurd-based GNU systems are starting to be used.) | |
51 | ||
52 | That was the situation when Linux came into being. Linux is a kernel, | |
53 | like the kernel of Unix; it was written by Linus Torvalds, who | |
54 | released it under the GNU General Public License. He did not write | |
55 | this kernel for GNU, but it fit into the gap in GNU. The combination | |
56 | of GNU and Linux included all the major essential components of a | |
57 | Unix-compatible operating system. Other people, with some work made | |
58 | the combination into a usable system. The principal use of Linux, the | |
59 | kernel, is as part of this combination. | |
60 | ||
61 | The popularity of the GNU/Linux combination is success, in the sense | |
62 | of popularity, for GNU. Ironically, the popularity of GNU/Linux | |
63 | undermines our method of communicating the ideas of GNU to people who | |
64 | use GNU. | |
65 | ||
66 | When GNU programs were only usable individually on top of another | |
67 | operating system, installing and using them meant knowing and | |
68 | appreciating these programs, and thus being aware of GNU, which led | |
69 | people to think about the philosophical base of GNU. Now users can | |
70 | install a unified operating system which is basically GNU, but they | |
71 | usually thing these are "Linux systems". At first impression, a | |
72 | "Linux system" sounds like something completely distinct from the "GNU | |
73 | system," and that is what most users think. | |
1bac2ebb DL |
74 | |
75 | This leads many users to identify themselves as a separate community | |
d3cdc6d0 RS |
76 | of "Linux users", distinct from the GNU user community. They use more |
77 | than just some GNU programs, they use almost all of the GNU system, | |
78 | but they don't think of themselves as GNU users. Often they never | |
79 | hear about the GNU idea; if they do, they may not think it relates to | |
80 | them. | |
81 | ||
82 | Most introductions to the "Linux system" acknowledge that GNU software | |
83 | components play a role in it, but they don't say that the system as a | |
84 | whole is a modified version of the GNU system that the GNU project has | |
85 | been developing and compiling since Linus Torvalds was in junior high | |
86 | school. They don't say that the main reason this free operating | |
87 | exists is that the GNU Project worked persistently to achieve its goal | |
88 | of freedom. | |
89 | ||
90 | As a result, most users don't know these things. They believe that | |
91 | the "Linux system" was developed by Linus Torvalds "just for fun", and | |
92 | that their freedom is a matter of good fortune rather than the | |
93 | dedicated pursuit of freedom. This creates a danger that they will | |
94 | leave the survival of free software to fortune as well. | |
1bac2ebb | 95 | |
d3cdc6d0 RS |
96 | Since human beings tend to correct their first impressions less than |
97 | called for by additional information they learn later, these users | |
98 | will tend to continue to underestimate their connection to GNU even if | |
99 | they do learn the facts. | |
100 | ||
101 | When we began trying to support the GNU/Linux system, we found this | |
102 | widespread misinformation led to a practical problem--it hampered | |
103 | cooperation on software maintenance. Normally when users change a GNU | |
104 | program to make it work better on a particular system, they send the | |
105 | change to the maintainer of that program; then they work with the | |
106 | maintainer, explaining the change, arguing for it, and sometimes | |
107 | rewriting it for the sake of the overall coherence and maintainability | |
108 | of the package, to get the patch installed. But people who thought of | |
109 | themselves as "Linux users" showed a tendency to release a forked | |
110 | "Linux-only" version of the GNU program and consider the job done. In | |
111 | some cases we had to redo their work in order to make GNU programs run | |
112 | as released in GNU/Linux systems. | |
113 | ||
114 | How should the GNU project encourage its users to cooperate? How | |
115 | should we spread the idea that freedom for computer users is | |
116 | important? | |
117 | ||
118 | We must continue to talk about the freedom to share and change | |
119 | software--and to teach other users to value these freedoms. If we | |
120 | value having a free operating system, it makes sense to think about | |
121 | preserving those freedoms for the long term. If we value having a | |
122 | variety of free software, it makes sense to think about encouraging | |
123 | others to write free software, instead of proprietary software. | |
124 | ||
125 | However, it is not enough just to talk about freedom; we must also | |
126 | make sure people know the reasons it is worth listening to what we | |
127 | say. | |
128 | ||
129 | Long explanations such as our philosophical articles are one way of | |
130 | informing the public, but you may not want to spend so much time on | |
131 | the matter. The most effective way you can help with a small amount | |
132 | of work is simply by using the terms "Linux-based GNU system" or | |
133 | "GNU/Linux system", instead of "Linux system," when you write about or | |
134 | mention such a system. Seeing these terms will show many people the | |
135 | reason to pay attention to our philosophical articles. | |
136 | ||
137 | The system as a whole is more GNU than Linux; the name "GNU/Linux" is | |
138 | fair. When you are choosing the name of a distribution or a user | |
139 | group, a name with "GNU/Linux" will reflect both roots of the combined | |
140 | system, and will bring users into connection with both--including the | |
141 | spirit of freedom and community that is the basis and purpose of GNU. | |
142 | ||
143 | ||
144 | Copyright 1996, 2002 Richard Stallman | |
1bac2ebb DL |
145 | Verbatim copying and redistribution is permitted |
146 | without royalty as long as this notice is preserved. | |
147 |