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How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux?How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux?Posted Jun 1, 2011 8:23 UTC (Wed) by mingo (subscriber, #31122)In reply to: How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux? by flewellyn Parent article: How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux?
Remove the BIOS and see whether your system will boot at all.
Remove the CPU microcode and see whether your BIOS will run at all.
Do we get to call it Intel/BIOS/GNU/Linux now?
I think the GNU/ prefix, based on just 8% code contribution, has become largely moot by today. If people want to say "Linux/GNU" then they can do that, but trying to *insist* on the "GNU/Linux" naming based on the rather strained argument that's still all super-important GNU code and the rest is just details is somewhat pathetic.
If the GNU projects wants to gain larger relevance it should contribute more *code* and should be a friendly platform for contributors, instead of aggressively trying to language-lawyer themselves into the naming of other projects ...
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How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux? Posted Jun 1, 2011 9:27 UTC (Wed) by realnc (guest, #60393) [Link]
Same goes for the kernel. Based on just 8% code contribution, "Linux" has become largely moot by today. ;-)
Different people have a different biases.
How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux? Posted Jun 1, 2011 10:20 UTC (Wed) by mingo (subscriber, #31122) [Link]
Of course that's true - with the rather crutial difference that we do not insist on calling it "Linux"! :-)
I never ever corrected anyone to say "Linux/Ubuntu" instead of just "Ubuntu", or to say "Linux/Android" instead of just "Android".
This whole GNU/Linux naming crusade is just that: a crusade, trying to force things on others. You need to stop 'correcting' people when they say Android, Ubuntu or Linux, that they should say "GNU/".
How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux? Posted Jun 1, 2011 22:43 UTC (Wed) by jmalcolm (guest, #8876) [Link]
You nailed it.
How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux? Posted Jun 2, 2011 1:05 UTC (Thu) by chad.netzer (guest, #4257) [Link]
Linux is just a cool name. I'd say roughly 40% of Linux's early success at attracting interested people was based on name alone. :)
How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux? Posted Jun 2, 2011 6:36 UTC (Thu) by mingo (subscriber, #31122) [Link]
For a long time i shared your exact sentiment (i'd even place the 'pure luck' and 'good naming' proportion much higher than 40%), but then i had to admit that the phenomenal success of the "Git" project is somewhat of an outlier! :-)
So a proper, scalable development model (and, of course, good timing) matters a lot and can offset a bad name.
But yeah, i definitely agree that the "Freux" or "Freax" name would probably have been somewhat of an embarrassment with time, especially for desktop and business users.
(Just like dropping the cool minerals naming scheme (Beryl, Emerald, etc.) and going back to the dry and uninspiring "Compiz" name [for pure ego reasons!] was a disaster for that project, in terms of developer interest and growth.)
How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux? Posted Jun 1, 2011 14:48 UTC (Wed) by nye (guest, #51576) [Link]
>I think the GNU/ prefix, based on just 8% code contribution, has become largely moot by today.
Hmm, if anything I'd say it's *more* relevant today, thanks to the existance of viable *non-GNU* Linuxes, with Android being the most prominent example.
(There was something else I was reading about a week or two back where I was like 'Stop calling it GNU/Linux! There's no GNU in it'. Can't think what it was though. Maybe it was Android-based after all.)
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