RE: gnu and linux

[Oommen Thomas <oommen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 1 Mar 2000, R. Sriram wrote:

<sriram>Is Apache part of GNU? Most people use apache on linux. So dont you feel
<sriram>that we shoudl call it Apache/GNU/linux. I mean even apache deserves credit

Thats true.
As per surveys, more than 50% of the webservers in the world run under
Apache (some of them in NT too). 
..
.

<sriram>of writing any code. Now that is good for linux or should I say
<sriram>Apache/perl/Xfree86/Qmail/Zope/Python/gnu/linux. Of course it would also be

How about making it APXQZPG-Linux? Easy to remember? :-)
(Like I used to remember Lord Mountbatten's name in schooldays - LFAVNM -
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten) !!!

Now after being a silent spectator in this GNU-Linux war of words @ ILUGC,
let me contribute my 2c....

1. It is a known fact that lot of current users/developers of Linux
consider Linus as THE person behind (mostly due to ignorance of history)
and people like RMS have been ignored, although they pioneered the FS
movement against all odds in those days, when things were not favourable
for them like we have now. I dont think anybody will cotradict me if
I say that RMS et al have NOT been given due credit once Linux became
popular (of course with the core kernel developed initially by Linus). In
simple terms, this is not fair. This is very evident in most literature of
Linux hostory and has been attributed to the fact that RMS is less
PR-friendly when compared to Linus etc who pull larger crowds. BUT, IMHO
the way to acknowledge the contribution by renaming the product is not
proper as Linux has got a lot of other contributions too from different
quarters as many pointed out. I feel the name has to be Linux itself, but
whenever we say of the history of Linux, we must mention FSF and RMS
(apart from the fact that a Finnish student developed the kernel). I
always do that, if ILUGC members who had seen the SO presentation (which I
had prepared/presented) - please note that this DID work unlike what the 
Bang!inux guys said they had to use Powerpoint instead - at the ILUGC
Exhibition last year at Sun Plaza would remember. This point was stressed,
and I had mentioned names like Eric Raymond as well. I think thats the
best we need to do rather than renaming the product which has already
established its presence. How will it be if you rename a kid when he/she
is 10 years old saying that his/her original name doesnt suit him/her.
That's stupid, to say the least. A name is a name and need not reflect
what/how/when of the product or commodity or the person.

2. One correction to Hansolo's mail: Unix was originally developed by/at 
Bell Labs and not AT&T, although the latter took over the former later
to become AT&T Bell Labs... Rest is history.

3. This thread has been very informative and as Capt Ramani pointed out, I
would like this to go on (provided we try to avoid overstepping our limits
of decency in vocabulary) so that all of us become more knowledgable.
Also, would the webmaster be kind enough to compile all these info and add
to a new section (say Discussions) on the website so that the threads will
be available for later reference (of course after cutting off all the
'unparliamentary references'). The Hypernews forum which I had mentioned
long back will be of use here. (Sharan/Sambaiah, if you can get this done,
that would be great).

PS: This will be my first and last posting in the thread although I will
be listening....

-
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