this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I don't understand a single example you gave. I always call it Linux. But, what?
Linux is the kernel, useless without actual programs to run on it. In general the minimal set of programs to make a Linux system actually useful (cd, ls, cat, ...) are provided by the coreutils package, a GNU project.
RMS, the founder of GNU, was pissed that people were using Linux + his software and simply calling it Linux, so he insisted that the proper generic name for "Linux" distributions was actually "GNU/Linux" (i.e. GNU utilities + Linux kernel).
OP's joke is that we name stuff without specifying their components or needed tools all the time, so we shouldn't bother doing it for Linux.
Yeah, I understood all of that. I didn't understand the examples. Chisel, David, etc..
Michelangelo's David is a well-known marble statue which was carved using a chisel.
I don't get it, why would you even be mad about someone referring it as GNU/Linux?
In that case it's even just either X org or the wayland compositor that may implement that, not "linux".
Please stop lecturing people about how to talk.
But why would you call this linux when this is not linux specific thing anyway
ah yes, Linux clipboard documentation: https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/touch-and-input/copy-paste
I mean, we live in a world where there are multiple use cases for non-GNU/Linux (i.e. Alpine). Surely the distinction has become useful.
Ok, Stallman
Yes, thank you! Just call it Linux.
I think going of out your way to type four more letters shows appropriate appreciation for the historical significance of the GNU project.
I think that sort of pedantry over semantics is one of the reasons the Linux community has such a bad reputation.
You vlassifying it as "pedantry" supports my point. It's also ironic, considering you told somebody else to not call it GNU+Linux instead of the other way around.
Pick one.
Mimimimimimi
Sorry? Are you okay?