Jonathan Hutchins ([email protected]) wrote:
On Tuesday 26 October 2004 12:42 pm, D. Joe wrote:
... they screw-up [by] calling Linux an "operating system" rather than a kernel.
Linux is more than an Operating System or a Kernel. It's a philosophy and for some people a lifestyle, maybe even a religion.
Seriously, when most people say "Linux" they mean the GNU Linux Suite with a FOSS GUI, desktop, and a load of useful software - in short, they mean a whole distro, not a kernel.
I believe Stallman was the one to ask it be called GNU/Linux because of the GNU utilities added onto the Linux kernel. However, we now have a melting pot of all sorts of GUI libraries, desktop environments, server applications, etc. It's no longer just a kernel and unix-like utilities.
My favorite clip I read recently was about Debian's package management system, dpkg, which used to stand for "Debian GNU/Linux package manager." Now, dpkg is used is non-Debian and non-Linux environments, so it no longer stands for anything. Maybe they could rename it to asdf and make it easier to type. =)
Jeremy