etc/LINUX-GNU

   1                      Linux and the GNU system
   2
   3 The GNU project started 12 years ago with the goal of developing a
   4 complete free Unix-like operating system.  "Free" refers to freedom,
   5 not price; it means you are free to run, copy, distribute, study,
   6 change, and improve the software.
   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
  12 utilities.  Other components we wrote specifically for GNU--for
  13 example, GNU Emacs, the GNU C compiler, the GNU C library, Bash, and
  14 Ghostscript.  The components in this last category are "GNU software".
  15 The GNU system consists of all three categories together.
  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
  19 software should be free, and that the users' freedom is worth
  20 defending.  For if people have freedom but do not consciously
  21 appreciate it, they will not keep it for long.  If we want to make
  22 freedom last, we need to call people's attention to the freedoms they
  23 have in free software.
  24
  25 The GNU project's method is that free software and the idea of users'
  26 freedom support each other.  We develop GNU software, and as people
  27 encounter GNU programs or the GNU system and start to use them, they
  28 also think about the GNU idea.  The software shows that the idea can
  29 work in practice.  Some of these people come to agree with the idea,
  30 and then they are more likely to write additional free software.
  31 Thus, the software embodies the idea, spreads the idea, and grows from
  32 the idea.
  33
  34 By 1992, we had found or written all of the essential major components
  35 of the system except the kernel, which we were writing.  (This kernel
  36 consists of the Mach microkernel plus the GNU HURD.  Currently it is
  37 running but not ready for users.  The first test release was made in
  38 1996.)
  39
  40 Then the Linux kernel became available.  Linux is a free
  41 Unix-compatible kernel initially written by Linus Torvalds.  It was
  42 not written for the GNU project, but Linux and the almost-complete GNU
  43 system made a useful combination.  This combination provided all the
  44 major essential components of a Unix-compatible operating system, and
  45 with some work, people made it into a usable system.  It was a variant
  46 GNU system, based on the Linux kernel.
  47
  48 Ironically, the popularity of these systems undermines our method of
  49 communicating the GNU idea to people who use GNU.  These systems are
  50 mostly the same as the GNU system--the main difference being the
  51 choice of kernel.  But people usually call them "Linux systems".  At
  52 first impression, a "Linux system" sounds like something completely
  53 distinct from the "GNU system," and that is what most users think it
  54 is.
  55
  56 Most introductions to the "Linux system" acknowledge the role played
  57 by the GNU software components.  But they don't say that the system as
  58 a whole is a modified version of the GNU system that the GNU project
  59 has been developing and compiling since 1984.  They don't say that the
  60 goal of a free Unix-like system like this one came from the GNU
  61 project.  So most users don't know these things.
  62
  63 Since human beings tend to correct their first impressions less than
  64 subsequent information calls for, those users who later learn about
  65 the relationship between these systems and the GNU project still often
  66 underestimate it.
  67
  68 This leads many users to identify themselves as a separate community
  69 of "Linux users", distinct from the GNU user community.  They use all
  70 of the GNU software; in fact, they use almost all of the GNU system;
  71 but they don't think of themselves as GNU users, and often they don't
  72 think that the GNU idea relates to them.
  73
  74 It leads to other problems as well--even hampering cooperation on
  75 software maintenance.  Normally when users change a GNU program to
  76 make it work better on a particular system, they send the change to
  77 the maintainer of that program; then they work with the maintainer,
  78 explaining the change, arguing for it, and sometimes rewriting it for
  79 the sake of the overall coherence and maintainability of the package,
  80 to get the patch installed.
  81
  82 But people who think of themselves as "Linux users" are more likely to
  83 release a forked "Linux-only" version of the GNU program, and consider
  84 the job done.  We want each and every GNU program to work "out of the
  85 box" on Linux-based systems; but if the users do not help, that goal
  86 becomes much harder to achieve.
  87
  88 How should the GNU project deal with this problem?  What should we do
  89 now to spread the idea that freedom for computer users is important?
  90
  91 We should continue to talk about the freedom to share and change
  92 software--and to teach other users to value these freedoms.  If we
  93 enjoy having a free operating system, it makes sense for us to think
  94 about preserving those freedoms for the long term.  If we enjoy having
  95 a variety of free software, it makes sense for to think about
  96 encouraging others to write additional free software, instead of
  97 additional proprietary software.
  98
  99 We should not accept the idea of two separate communities for GNU and
 100 Linux.  Instead we should spread understanding that "Linux systems"
 101 are variants of the GNU system, and that the users of these systems
 102 are GNU users as well as Linux users (users of the Linux kernel).
 103 Users who know this will naturally tend to take a look at the GNU
 104 philosophy which brought these systems into existence.
 105
 106 I've written this article as one way of doing that.  Another way is to
 107 use the terms "Linux-based GNU system" or "GNU/Linux system", instead
 108 of "Linux system," when you write about or mention such a system.
 109
 110
 111 Copyright 1996 Richard Stallman
 112 Verbatim copying and redistribution is permitted
 113 without royalty as long as this notice is preserved.
 114