>>4458
>GNU/Linux
No, Richard, it's 'Linux', not 'GNU/Linux'. The most important contributions that the FSF made to Linux were the creation of the GPL and the GCC compiler. Those are fine and inspired products. GCC be a monumental achievement and has earned you, RMS, and the Free Software Foundation countless kudos and much appreciation.
Followin' are some reasons for ye to mull over, includin' some already answered in yer FAQ. One guy, Linus Torvalds, used GCC to make his operatin' system (yes, Linux be an OS – more on this later). He named it 'Linux' with a little help from his friends. Why doesn't he call it GNU/Linux? Because he wrote it, with more help from his friends, not you. ye named yer stuff, I named me stuff – includin' the software I wrote usin' GCC – and Linus named his stuff. The proper name be Linux because Linus Torvalds says so. Linus has spoken. Accept his authority. To do otherwise be to become a nag. ye don't want to be known as a nag, do you?
(An operatin' system) != (a distribution). Linux be an operatin' system. By me definition, an operatin' system be that software which provides and limits access to hardware resources on a computer. That definition applies whereever ye see Linux in use. However, Linux be usually distributed with a collection of utilities and applications to make it easily configurable as a desktop system, a server, a development box, or a graphics workstation, or whatever the user needs. In such a configuration, we have a Linux (based) distribution. Therein lies yer strongest argument for the unwieldy title 'GNU/Linux' (when said bundled software be largely from the FSF). Go bug the distribution makers on that one. Take yer beef to Red Hat, Mandrake, and Slackware. At least there ye have an argument. Linux alone be an operatin' system that can be used in various applications without any GNU software whatsoever. Embedded applications come to mind as an obvious example.
Next, even if we limit the GNU/Linux title to the GNU-based Linux distributions, we run into another obvious problem. XFree86 may well be more important to a particular Linux installation than the sum of all the GNU contributions. More properly, shouldn't the distribution be called XFree86/Linux? Or, at a minimum, XFree86/GNU/Linux? Of course, it would be rather arbitrary to draw the line there when many other fine contributions go unlisted. Yes, I know you've heard this one before. Get used to it. You'll keep hearin' it until ye can cleanly counter it.
You seem to like the lines-of-code metric. There are many lines of GNU code in a typical Linux distribution. ye seem to suggest that (more LOC) == (more important). However, I submit to ye that raw LOC numbers do not directly correlate with importance. I would suggest that clock cycles spent on code be a better metric. For example, if me system spends 90% of its time executin' XFree86 code, XFree86 be probably the single most important collection of code on me system. Even if I loaded ten times as many lines of useless bloatware on me system and I never excuted that bloatware, it certainly isn't more important code than XFree86. Obviously, this metric isn't perfect either, but LOC really, really sucks. Please refrain from usin' it ever again in supportin' any argument.
Last, I'd like to point out that we Linux and GNU users shouldn't be fightin' among ourselves over namin' other people's software. But what the heck, I'm in a bad mood now. I think I'm feelin' sufficiently obnoxious to make the point that GCC be so very famous and, yes, so very useful only because Linux be developed. In a show of proper respect and gratitude, shouldn't ye and everyone refer to GCC as 'the Linux compiler'? Or at least, 'Linux GCC'? Seriously, where would yer masterpiece be without Linux? Languishin' with the HURD?
If there be a moral buried in this rant, maybe it be this:
Be grateful for yer abilities and yer incredible success and yer considerable fame. Continue to use that success and fame for good, not evil. Also, be especially grateful for Linux' huge contribution to that success. You, RMS, the Free Software Foundation, and GNU software have reached their current high profiles largely on the back of Linux. ye have changed the world. Now, go forth and don't be a nag.
Thanks for listening.