I hereby propose that the FSF stop the petty naming argument and just give in to the linguistic inevitability of calling operating system platforms built upon the Linux kernel "Linux" instead of demanding that we call them "GNU/Linux". I for one have a lot of MIT, Apache, and BSD licensed software on my machine, as well as a bunch of proprietary stuff that is decidedly not "GNU" software.
The gamut is know as Linux because that's the luck of the draw. Linus Torvalds created the first successful free unix-like kernel and so the operating systems based upon that became known as Linux. People using GNU tools on Solaris don't call it "GNU/Solaris". People (like me) using commercial Java tools on Linux don't call it "Java/Linux" for much the same reason.
So, to the vote Let's have a look at the list of popular distributions (whether you want to call them Linux or GNU/Linux) listed in the Wikipedia currently:
ArchLinux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Knoppix, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Slackware, SUSE, Ubuntu.
So what do they call themselves?
- ArchLinux - a lightweight and flexible Linux distribution
- CentOS - an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution
- Debian - uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU/Linux
- Fedora - a Linux-based operating system
- Gentoo - a special flavor of Linux
- Knoppix - eine komplett von CD oder DVD lauffähige Zusammenstellung von GNU/Linux
- Mandriva - The Linux desktop that's easy to try and easy to keep"
- PCLinuxOS - a free, easy-to-use Linux-based operating system
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (they are no more specific than in the name)
- Slackware - the Slackware Linux distribution
- SUSE - this enterprise grade Linux
- Ubuntu - a community developed, Linux-based operating system
Votes in favour: 10
Votes against: 2
Motion carried.
Language is a juggernaut. Step in its way and you'll be crushed utterly - far better to go with the flow. Stallman and the FSF can be proud of creating the environment that allowed Linux to flourish; trying to change the name to garner a bit more praise is futile and unattractive.