linux.com — On September 27, 1983, Richard M. Stallman announced his intention to found the GNU project in order to build a free operating system. Now, 25 years later, the Free Software Foundation is marking the anniversary of the announcement with a month-long celebration. Looking back at the last quarter century, Stallman expresses some guarded satisfaction
Sep 26, 2008 View in Crawl 4
mstrebeSep 27, 2008
It really is unfortunate that rather than embracing Linux as someone who was centered on the concept of free and open software would, RMS has spoken very derogatorily of it and of Linus, as if Linux somehow undermined open-source software simply because it wasn't controlled by RMS. In fact, the only thing it undermined was the ego of RMS. His position on the GPL3 vs. GPL2 debate also shows that he simply wants to dictate and has no real interest in discussion, dissent, or the voices of others.Linus is my hero.
olfsterSep 27, 2008
He is definitely an odd character. I just happen to think the world needs more of them in science. Not, I repeat ,Not, politics and religion, where most seem to end up.
init100Sep 27, 2008
"RMS has spoken very derogatorily of it and of Linus, as if Linux somehow undermined open-source software simply because it wasn't controlled by RMS."Links please."His position on the GPL3 vs. GPL2 debate also shows that he simply wants to dictate and has no real interest in discussion, dissent, or the voices of others."If he hadn't been interested in the opinions of others, he would have written the GPLv3 himself without considering any outside opinions. The fact that the GPLv3 was written in an open process with many comments from outside GNU, many of which made it into the license, clearly shows that you are wrong.
daftmanSep 28, 2008
> That kernel is what gives you a complete OS for those GNU tools to compose. Otherwise you'd have to use someone else's proprietary kernel.No without Linux you can still have GNU/OpenSolaris.
Closed AccountSep 28, 2008
Maybe his mom put a filter on his interweb terminal that blocks the 4,000,000 Obama articles on the front page of digg each day.
mweatherSep 29, 2008
If Obama was running against a Republican, we'd see less Obama articles. Problem is, he's running against McCain.
yaroman22Jul 16, 2009
@init100 - Okay, Stallmanist, tell me... what part of GNU is irreplacable in Linux?Oh wait, there's replacements for EVERY GNU TOOL in Linux. Sure, GNU may have helped Linux come to being, but lets not confuse Linux with GNU.Oh, and EGCS, klibs, and uclibc.GCC is NOT the only compiler that can build Linux. Not by along shot.
yaroman22Jul 16, 2009
GNU is only a toolchain. Toolchains don't define the system, the kernel does.Linux.Also, the CORRECT definition of Opearting System is "kernel mode software that manages processes, hardware, and resources."NO GNU THERE. It's ALLLL Linux modules, kernel, and drivers.
yaroman22Jul 16, 2009
He's still advising theology over usability. Unless gNewSense actually worked as well as any other distribution and someone didn't tell me.
yaroman22Jul 16, 2009
@init100 - I have no links, but ask anyone working on the GNU project what he *used* to say about Linux before he started trying to grab credit for it by calling it "GNU/Linux" he kept trying to get people developing for the REAL GNU and not Linux.Edit: Actually, come to think of it, look up a certaing glibc maintainer around 2000, he writes about an update to the library before going on for several paragraphs about the sort of lousy crap Stallman pulls when it suits him, includig falsely declaring Linux a "variant" of GNU.By the way: Using GNU tools doesn't magically turn an operating system or a system distribution into a GNU variant, which is what RMS (And you.) is arguing.