Hey, just, uh, wanted to clear the air a bit. You know when you’re saying “Linux,” what you’re probably referring to is what some folks call “GNU plus Linux,” if you really want to get into the weeds of it. But don’t sweat it, alright? I’m not here to be a buzzkill or anything.

See, what we call “Linux” is actually just a part of the whole thing, man. It’s the kernel, the core, the… engine, you could say, of the operating system. But the GNU stuff, that’s the body of the car, the seats, the steering wheel. You need both to take a drive, you know?

But look, it’s not a big deal. We’re all just trying to get from point A to point B, right? So, whether you’re saying “Linux” or “GNU plus Linux”, it doesn’t change the journey. It’s just semantics.

Sure, I get it. Richard Stallman and the gang over at the Free Software Foundation, they put in a lot of effort into the GNU software, and I respect that. But sometimes you gotta go with the flow, man. And right now, that flow is “Linux”. It’s simpler, it’s what people know, and frankly, it’s the Linux kernel that’s making the whole thing work in the first place.

So next time you want to get technical, feel free to drop a “GNU plus Linux”. Stallman would probably give you a nod of approval. But if you’re just chilling out, hanging back, and you say “Linux”… well, it’s all good, man. Linux is just Linux. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

  • flashgnash@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Linux is a single word everyone recognises and understands, gnu/Linux sounds dumb and precocious because you’re not going to refer to android as android/Linux, that would be silly