Taken from the CompTIA IT Fundamentals Exam Guide book (2nd edition, published 2021). I'm not sure if they fixed this in newer versions, if at all.
this post was submitted on 02 Sep 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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The whole concept of claiming that GNU is the actual OS never made much sense to me. Like yeah, glibc and coreutils are very major components, but so is the init system, and the package manager, and the WM, and the DE... I don't really understand why RMS draws the line at GNU arbitrarily other than to stroke his own ego. Following his underlying logic, shouldn't I call my system Plasma/KWin/pacman/systemd/GNU/Linux?
None of this is directed at you btw, it's just something that always springs to mind for me whenever this topic comes up.
Because what you mentioned is ahistorical and based off reactionary history by bad actors.
Rms draws the line a GNU because GNU stands for a free operating system, which is what the GNU project is aiming towards. If this were purely a discussion about technicality, then we would be wise to let the matter drop, but that's not whats at stake here.
You can, you literally can and it would be better that way to accurately describe what operating system you're running. The shortest possible name is GNU, but that would be unfair to the contribution made by the linux foundation and the fact that multiple kernel projects do exist: so the name is GNU/Linux.
His essays on the topic which are publicaly accessible from the GNU website do discuss this.
Rest assured that rms does not doing this out of ego tripping. Maybe you should tease Linus Torvalds for calling his kernel linux and the ENTIRE operating system linux. Torvalds is a multimillionaire who has used an apple M1 laptop. Stallman has never budged on libre software and directs his own life by his own stated principles. Call Rms stubborn, but never call him egotistical.
Please read Free Software, Free Society by Richard M Stallman so that this doesn't have to keep springing up anymore. There are very few "linux" comm members who have read the foundational literature in full so I hope you do take my advice.
Here's a link to the book:
Free Software, Free Society, Third Edition - Richard M. Stallman, 2015 (PDF)
I was preparing to search for it and your comment ! Thanks lol
GNU is a project whose goal is to create a free operating system.
Way back in the dark ages when commercial UNIX was relevant, it was common to install various GNU utilities to get a better user experience or get things like a C compiler without having to pay tons of money for it.
The kernel part of the project didn't work out, so the de facto purpose of the GNU project morphed into creating better utilities and libraries for other operating systems.
When the Linux kernel came around, the GNU software was the base of system. That's why RMS insists on the GNU/Linux thing.
Things like the window system and desktop environment aren't really considered part of the OS by folks like RMS (and me, for that matter). It's probably an age thing - used to be there was a "core" system and various add-ons. The core system is the OS in our world view.
@Neil Thank you. I hope that I can remember this.
@TheImpressiveX