- Linux and the GNU system
-
-The GNU project started in 1984 with the goal of developing a complete
-free Unix-like operating system: GNU. "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. This left many missing components that we had to write in
-order to produce GNU--for example, GNU Emacs, the GNU C compiler, the
-GNU C library, Bash, and Ghostscript. The GNU system consists of all
-these components 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, that software users should have freedom to
-participate in a community. To run your computer, you need an
-operating system; if it is not free, your freedom has been denied. To
-have freedom, you need a free operating system. We therefore set out
-to write one.
-
-In the long run, though, we cannot expect to keep the free operating
-system free unless the users are aware of the freedom it gives them,
-and value that freedom. People who do not appreciate their freedom
-will not keep it long. If we want to make freedom last, we need to
-spread awareness of 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.
-
-Early on in the development of GNU, various parts of it became popular
-even though users needed proprietary systems to run them on. Porting
-the system to many systems and maintaining them required a lot of
-work. After that work, most GNU software is easily configured for a
-variety of different platforms.
-
-By 1991, 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. The first test
-release was made in 1996. Now, in 2002, it is running well, and
-Hurd-based GNU systems are starting to be used.)
-
-That was the situation when Linux came into being. Linux is a kernel,
-like the kernel of Unix; it was written by Linus Torvalds, who
-released it under the GNU General Public License. He did not write
-this kernel for GNU, but it fit into the gap in GNU. The combination
-of GNU and Linux included all the major essential components of a
-Unix-compatible operating system. Other people, with some work made
-the combination into a usable system. The principal use of Linux, the
-kernel, is as part of this combination.
-
-The popularity of the GNU/Linux combination is success, in the sense
-of popularity, for GNU. Ironically, the popularity of GNU/Linux
-undermines our method of communicating the ideas of GNU to people who
-use GNU.
-
-When GNU programs were only usable individually on top of another
-operating system, installing and using them meant knowing and
-appreciating these programs, and thus being aware of GNU, which led
-people to think about the philosophical base of GNU. Now users can
-install a unified operating system which is basically GNU, but they
-usually thing these are "Linux systems". At first impression, a
-"Linux system" sounds like something completely distinct from the "GNU
-system," and that is what most users think.
-
-This leads many users to identify themselves as a separate community
-of "Linux users", distinct from the GNU user community. They use more
-than just some GNU programs, they use almost all of the GNU system,
-but they don't think of themselves as GNU users. Often they never
-hear about the GNU idea; if they do, they may not think it relates to
-them.
-
-Most introductions to the "Linux system" acknowledge that GNU software
-components play a role in it, 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 Linus Torvalds was in junior high
-school. They don't say that the main reason this free operating
-exists is that the GNU Project worked persistently to achieve its goal
-of freedom.
-
-As a result, most users don't know these things. They believe that
-the "Linux system" was developed by Linus Torvalds "just for fun", and
-that their freedom is a matter of good fortune rather than the
-dedicated pursuit of freedom. This creates a danger that they will
-leave the survival of free software to fortune as well.
-
-Since human beings tend to correct their first impressions less than
-called for by additional information they learn later, these users
-will tend to continue to underestimate their connection to GNU even if
-they do learn the facts.
-
-When we began trying to support the GNU/Linux system, we found this
-widespread misinformation led to a practical problem--it hampered
-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 thought of
-themselves as "Linux users" showed a tendency to release a forked
-"Linux-only" version of the GNU program and consider the job done. In
-some cases we had to redo their work in order to make GNU programs run
-as released in GNU/Linux systems.
-
-How should the GNU project encourage its users to cooperate? How
-should we spread the idea that freedom for computer users is
-important?
-
-We must continue to talk about the freedom to share and change
-software--and to teach other users to value these freedoms. If we
-value having a free operating system, it makes sense to think about
-preserving those freedoms for the long term. If we value having a
-variety of free software, it makes sense to think about encouraging
-others to write free software, instead of proprietary software.
-
-However, it is not enough just to talk about freedom; we must also
-make sure people know the reasons it is worth listening to what we
-say.
-
-Long explanations such as our philosophical articles are one way of
-informing the public, but you may not want to spend so much time on
-the matter. The most effective way you can help with a small amount
-of work is simply by using the terms "Linux-based GNU system" or
-"GNU/Linux system", instead of "Linux system," when you write about or
-mention such a system. Seeing these terms will show many people the
-reason to pay attention to our philosophical articles.
-
-The system as a whole is more GNU than Linux; the name "GNU/Linux" is
-fair. When you are choosing the name of a distribution or a user
-group, a name with "GNU/Linux" will reflect both roots of the combined
-system, and will bring users into connection with both--including the
-spirit of freedom and community that is the basis and purpose of GNU.
-
-
-Copyright 1996, 2002 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