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Re: Richard M Stallman's talk..



Ramakrishnan M proclaimed:
> The talk was on expected lines, with terms like "priesthood of technology",
> "software patents" etc. But it was a really enlightening talk. Many of 
> the listeners did not know about the existance of GNu and did not seem to 
> understand the difference between GNU and Linux. 

You have implied that there *is* a difference between GNU and Linux.

> During the question answer session, stallman had to correct many of 
> the people to correctly call "linux" as GNU/Linux. 

Actually, I think Stallman is wrong to call the Linux Operating System as
GNU/Linux.  You see there are many vital parts of the system (as
distributed by say, Debian or RH) that are not under the GNU Public License
(GPL).  You would not be willing to call a purely GPL-ed software based
Linux distribution as a true OS.

Stallman's GNU/Linux would not have vital pieces in the distribution such
as Apache (Apache license), perl (Artistic License), open-ssh (Open BSD
License), the X Window System (MIT License) etc.  A few months ago someone
(perl's Tom Christansen?) posted to Slashdot their analysis of the number
of lines of code in a typical Linux distribution that were licensed under
various open licenses.  It turned out that only about 30-40% of the code
was distributed under GPL.  If I were to tell people that they should call
it Artistic/Linux or BSD/Linux I am sure there would be a revolt.

Stallman, even though I admire him for his contributions to free software,
is talking through his hat.  He is to be congratulated for reminding people
the roots of free software.  But he is trying to sell his political baggage
along with the history.

My point in writing this email is not to incite a flame war (though I am
willing to argue this point further through private email).  It is to let
people know that the waters are not as clearly GNU/Linux as Stallman seems
to preach.  I want people to know that there are alternative points of view
held by equally respectable people.

Thaths
-- 
    "I have two questions for you: How much? and I'll take it."  
                     -- Homer J. Simpson
Sudhakar C13n http://people.netscape.com/thaths/ Lead Indentured Slave
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