Re: [Fsfe-uk] Why FS is a Good Thing

[Imran Ghory]

On Tue, 12 Mar 2002, MJ Ray wrote:

> Imran Ghory <address@hidden> wrote:> 
> 
> > Some evidence for Linux being the standard name based upon internet
> > searches:
> 
> Empirical evidence does not a proof make.

Damn, I'll have to do it mathematically then :-)
 
> >> I disagree.  What is the point of that list?  It is to give lists of
> >> successful Free Software projects.  GNU is probably the largest, so it
> >> should definitely be included.  Maybe GNU should be listed as a seperate
> >> bullet point?
> > IIRC. Mozilla is the largest piece of code in a RH distribution. 
> 
> Maybe, but RedHat is not that big a distribution and I'd still bet that GNU
> contributes more programs to it.  GNU is also one of the oldest projects out
> there.  Without GNU, would there be a Mozilla?

I'm not saying that GNU isn't important, of course it is, but the purpose
of this document is to explain free software and to that purpose we should
be aiming for maximum clarity.

 I would be perfectly happy if the text said "GNU Utilities" or whatever,
but GNU/Linux is recognized by the name of Linux whether we like it or
not. Maybe we should in the main text call it Linux and attach a footnote
along the lines of "Linux is also sometimes known as GNU/Linux due to the
large amount of utilities supplied by the GNU project". 

> > GNU may have been the most significant, but most people who know what
> > utilities like gcc, bash, readline, etc. are, are people who already know
> > about free software. The group we're targetting has never used any of
> > these utilites, so telling them about the basic GNU software won't help
> > them understand about free software one bit. 
> 
> And hiding the largest project will?  There are many parts of GNU which are
> right there in your face, not hidden away under the surface.  For example,
> IIRC, the RedHat distribution you speak of ships with Gnome

Yes, but when people say GNU/Linux they're not reffering to apps like
Gnome.

Imran