[clug] Stallman visit

[Lana Brindley]

On 19 March 2010 02:09, Brendan Jurd <direvus at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 18 March 2010 10:56, Alex Satrapa <grail at goldweb.com.au> wrote:
> > On 18/03/2010, at 10:52 , Steven Hanley wrote:
> >> Just a thought, Bob just suggested that maybe RMS will not want to visit
> >> CLUG asw we do not include Gnu in the name of the user group.
> >
> > Would you use an operating system called "Linux/GNU/Apache/ISC/…"?  Just
> typing out the name of the OS shouldn't be the major use of your time when
> using a particular OS.
>
> Indeed.  There's much to admire in what RMS has done in the software
> world, and much to be grateful to him for.  But his perverse demand
> that everybody prepend "GNU/" to things is ... well, lame.
>

He's still a pretty loathsome man. But yeah, point taken.


>
> Part of the reason GNU enjoys such widespread use is the success of
> Linux.  Part of the success of Linux is due to its name.  It's short,
> it's catchy, it's easy to pronounce.  By contrast, "GNU/Linux" would
> have Hindenburged right into the ground.
>

"Easy to pronounce"? Um. Lih-nucks. Lie-nucks. Luh-nucks.

I agree that GNU owes much of its success to Linux. I'm not so sure that
Linux owes its success to its name, though.

I doubt very much that its 'short, catchy' name has prompted anyone to
install Linux, quite frankly. The most part it might have played would be to
make it a little more memorable, and therefore have built brand recognition
(to borrow a marketing term for want of a better one) to an extent. I don't
think the people that have gone on to be Linux evangelists, though, would
not have done so if it was called "An operating system that is based on Unix
with a bunch of GNU stuff to make it work better".

Would a rose by any other name ... ? ;)

L

-- 
Cheers! Lana

I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking
them.
 - Jane Austen

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