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For a long time now, I have been a strong supporter of the GNU/Linux project. The goal to this site is to share my findings, tips, and tricks, that have made GNU/Linux such a profitable working environment for me and a large portion of the world's computer-litterate community. Throughout this site, I refer to "Linux" as "GNU/Linux". The reason for this is that "Linux" itself is a kernel. It is not an operating system. Several operating systems have spawn from this kernel or modified versions of it, but on its own it cannot be used.
An interesting quote from the GNU Project site is: "One CD-ROM vendor found that in their ``Linux distribution'', GNU software was the largest single contingent, around 28% of the total source code, and this included some of the essential major components without which there could be no system. Linux itself was about 3%. So if you were going to pick a name for the system based on who wrote the programs in the system, the most appropriate single choice would be ``GNU''." But that is not the expressed goal of the GNU Project. It aims to develop "a complete free Unix-like system". GNU tools are used in many UNIX-derived as well as non-UNIX operating systems. However, the reason for their being is to make a complete system. When Linus Torvalds made the Linux kernel, it was integrated into GNU as the last missing piece of the puzzle to make a complete system. Therefore this system is more accurately called "GNU/Linux". In truth, most Linux users do not use the official GNU/Linux system, but variant distributions of it, often including other tools and applications. But this is what makes GNU/Linux so wonderful -- it is free and open-source! |
