GNU developed the catalysts which others use [LWN.net]

GNU developed the catalysts which others use

Posted Jun 1, 2011 14:58 UTC (Wed) by ffaber (subscriber, #51868)
In reply to: GNU developed the catalysts which others use by Zack
Parent article: How much GNU is there in GNU/Linux?

For the general user (who would use Windows otherwise):
Yes, windowing system is included.
Yes, a desktop environment is included.
Also add: a web browser, a mail client, an office suite, a multimedia player.
Useless: development tools, emacs, many many command line tools (awk, sed, ..).
With this setup (using the KDE desktop) the remaining of the GNU operating system are minimal. Much MUCH less than 8%.
We should be grateful for the GNU project and how it created the free software movement.
But the marginality of GNU in such a setup and the fact that often
FSF/RMS positions are "unpleasant" (copyright assignment, GFDL,
GPL V3 vs. V2, the Gnome project) are the main reasons why calling the
result GNU/Linux is wrong.

(Log in to post comments)

Without the GNU project, there would be fewer other projects

Posted Jun 1, 2011 16:42 UTC (Wed) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]

Without the GNU project's work on development tools, legal infrastructure, and awareness of the importance of software freedom, half or most of the packages in a standard distro wouldn't exist.

As for what you find unpleasant - did you really think 28 years of campaigning and working on a public-interest project at the expense of various megacorporations could be a perfectly smooth ride with unanimity at every junction?

I agree that a desktop environment, windowing system, media player etc. should be in the system.

You're wrong about some of your suggestions for removal. The user might not use, for example, sed directly, but it gets used by scripts involved in keeping the system running. It's essential system software.

I'm also dubious about your claim that the GNU percentage would be much lower than 8%. I think it might be higher.