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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 have a rule about acronyms: if the spelling makes sense to be said as a word, I follow the English grammatical rules. A word that's spelled s-u-s-e would be pronounced "soos", so that's what I say.
This is why I don't pronounce GNU as "ga-noo", it doesn't make sense as a word. In those cases, I just spell them out.
There are people who don't say GNU like the animal?
There are no rules, just loose patterns, and pronunciation is not grammar.
Technically there are initialisms which cannot be pronounced ( letters only ) and acronyms which can be pronounced ( form words ).
So, in general, your rule is a good one. Of course, that does nothing to solve the problem of HOW to pronounce the words when so many different origin cultures are at play. As other have said, SUSE is German. So, is following “English grammatical rules” the right take?
I do not really have an answer. It is not self-evident to me. For Linux, Linus himself seems to have defaulted to US pronunciation. There is some precedent there I suppose.
So what's the deal with GNU? When I first saw it, I was sure the G was silent, or formed a dipthong, like gnat or gnocchi or gnaw or gnarly or gnome or just any word starting with gn in English. But IRL, I've only heard it pronounced with a hard G, same with Gnome.
Well thats the thing, generally if I see an acronym and have to ask myself how it would be pronounced as a word, by my rule I just spell it out.
For a great example of this (unrelated to FOSS), look at LGBTQIA+. Even though it's a mouthful to say each letter individually, no one wrestles it into "Leguhbuht'kwia plus", it just doesn't make sense and saying it that way would probably ellicit a dead stare from whoever heard it. Unless it's painfully simple to morph into a word or single syllable, I don't bother.
I'm not trying to say this is the right way, mind you. It's just the way that makes the most sense to me.
Except GNU is a great example of an acronym that is pronounceable. It's even in the dictionary. The GNU mascot is a gnu, in fact.
LGBTQIA+ is essentially unpronounceable, thus we treat it as an initialism. Not that that's a requirement, there are examples like VIP where even though we could pronounce it we pronounce each letter individually.
Lots of badlinguistics in this thread.
I always thought those whoe said susa instead of soos are wrong.
So, how do you pronounce Porsche?
Blinkvergesser!
Look up germans saying bitte, danke etc. Porshe follows that, except in North America
Paw r sh [german low e]
OpenZooZah TumbleWeedah
Seriously though, unpopular opinion disclaimer, I think I may be only one that didn't find it funny at all, just an informative, overly long, cringey Tenacious D reinterpretation ?
Sosa
Soosa
saiorse
I don't care. It's Soos. It's Ace-SUS, not Ah-soos. It's I-Key-Ah, not E-Kay-Ah. These are the way everyone around me says these things for as long as I can remember.