- 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 some
-useful 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 consciously
-appreciate it, they will not keep it for long. If we want to make
-freedom last, we need to call people's attention to the freedoms they
-have in free software.
-
-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. Some of these people come to agree with the idea,
-and then they are more likely to write additional free software.
-Thus, the software embodies the idea, spreads the idea, and grows from
-the idea.
-
-By 1992, we had found or written all of the essential major components
-of the system except the kernel, which we were writing. (This kernel
-consists of the Mach microkernel plus the GNU HURD. Currently it is
-running but not ready for users. The first test release was made in
-1996.)
-
-Then the Linux kernel became available. Linux is a free
-Unix-compatible kernel initially written by Linus Torvalds. It was
-not written for the GNU project, but Linux and the almost-complete GNU
-system made a useful combination. This combination provided all the
-major essential components of a Unix-compatible operating system, and
-with some work, people made it into a usable system. It was a variant
-GNU system, based on the Linux kernel.
-
-Ironically, the popularity of these systems undermines our method of
-communicating the GNU idea to people who use GNU. These systems are
-mostly the same as the GNU system--the main difference being the
-choice of kernel. But people usually call them "Linux systems". 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 a modified version of the GNU system that the GNU project
-has been developing and compiling since 1984. They don't say that the
-goal of a free Unix-like system like this one came from the GNU
-project. So most users don't know these things.
-
-Since human beings tend to correct their first impressions less than
-subsequent information calls for, those users who later learn about
-the relationship between these systems and the GNU project still often
-underestimate it.
-
-This leads many 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 often they don't
-think that the GNU idea relates to them.
-
-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 for
-the sake of the overall coherence and maintainability of the package,
-to get the patch 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.
-
-How should the GNU project deal with this problem? 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 idea of two separate communities for GNU and
-Linux. Instead we should spread understanding that "Linux systems"
-are variants of the GNU system, and that the users of these systems
-are GNU users as well as Linux users (users of the Linux kernel).
-Users who know this will naturally tend to take a look at the GNU
-philosophy which brought these systems into existence.
-
-I've written this article as one way of doing that. Another way is to
-use the terms "Linux-based GNU system" or "GNU/Linux system", instead
-of "Linux system," when you write about or mention such a system.
-
-
-Copyright 1996 Richard Stallman
-Verbatim copying and redistribution is permitted
-without royalty as long as this notice is preserved.
-
+Linux and the GNU system
+
+Note added March 2014:
+
+This file is obsolete and will be removed in future.
+Please update any references to use
+
+<http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html>
HCoop / bpt / emacs.git / blobdiff