this post was submitted on 23 Aug 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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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago

The GNU GPL is not Mr. Nice Guy. It says no to some of the things that people sometimes want to do. There are users who say that this is a bad thing—that the GPL “excludes” some proprietary software developers who “need to be brought into the free software community.”

But we are not excluding them from our community; they are choosing not to enter. Their decision to make software proprietary is a decision to stay out of our community. Being in our community means joining in cooperation with us; we cannot “bring them into our community” if they don't want to join.

[–] Zyansheep 21 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The webpage doesn't indicate the original date of publishing

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

The Wayback Machine's earliest capture is from 2000 and the text references an event from 1998, so that helps narrow it down a little.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago