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Re: Why GNU/Linux is not accepted: an observation


From: Jean Louis
Subject: Re: Why GNU/Linux is not accepted: an observation
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2019 18:26:26 +0530
User-agent: Mutt/1.10.1 (2018-07-13)

* Akira Urushibata <afu@wta.att.ne.jp> [2019-11-12 15:09]:
> On Saturday I attended an open source event in Fukuoka, western
> Japan.  I visited the booth of an organization named LinuC which
> conducts exams and issues certificates to those who pass.
> 
> I had glanced through at one of the textbooks they recommend.  It
> said that Linux started in 1991.  It did not make clear that the Linux
> kernel was built upon existing GNU software.
> 
> I pointed out that Linux, strictly speaking, is just the kernel and
> different from what is commonly referred to Linux.  This remark made
> the booth attendant visibly uncomfortable: he started wading and
> gasping for air.  He was troubled because when things are presented
> this way, the shallowness of one's understanding of crucial system
> components becomes impossible to disguise.  Ironically it is the
> knowledge of these very components which lie outside the kernel
> that examinations like LinuC measure.
> 
> I had noticed that their textbook mentions neither sed nor awk.  It is
> hard for me to envision someone claiming UNIX proficiency with no
> experience with sed and awk.

You could use this information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux#Linux_under_the_GNU_GPL

In the "Notes for linux release 0.01", Torvalds lists the GNU software that is 
required to run Linux:[18]

    Sadly, a kernel by itself gets you nowhere. To get a working
    system you need a shell, compilers, a library etc. These are
    separate parts and may be under a stricter (or even looser)
    copyright. Most of the tools used with linux are GNU software and
    are under the GNU copyleft. These tools aren't in the distribution
    - ask me (or GNU) for more info.

And then you could point out that GNU and GNU Compiler Collection
existed long before Linux kernel. Sending corrections to editors is fine.

Jean



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