Linux and the GNU systemThe GNU project started 12 years ago with the goal of developing acomplete free Unix-like operating system. "Free" refers to freedom,not price; it means you are free to run, copy, distribute, study,change, and improve the software.A Unix-like system consists of many different programs. We found somecomponents already available as free software--for example, X Windowsand TeX. We obtained other components by helping to convince theirdevelopers to make them free--for example, the Berkeley networkutilities. Other components we wrote specifically for GNU--forexample, GNU Emacs, the GNU C compiler, the GNU C library, Bash, andGhostscript. The components in this last category are "GNU software".The GNU system consists of all three categories together.The GNU project is not just about developing and distributing someuseful free software. The heart of the GNU project is an idea: thatsoftware should be free, and that the users' freedom is worthdefending. For if people have freedom but do not consciouslyappreciate it, they will not keep it for long. If we want to makefreedom last, we need to call people's attention to the freedoms theyhave in free software.The GNU project's method is that free software and the idea of users'freedom support each other. We develop GNU software, and as peopleencounter GNU programs or the GNU system and start to use them, theyalso think about the GNU idea. The software shows that the idea canwork in practice. Some of these people come to agree with the idea,and then they are more likely to write additional free software.Thus, the software embodies the idea, spreads the idea, and grows fromthe idea.By 1992, we had found or written all of the essential major componentsof the system except the kernel, which we were writing. (This kernelconsists of the Mach microkernel plus the GNU HURD. Currently it isrunning but not ready for users. The first test release was made in1996.)Then the Linux kernel became available. Linux is a freeUnix-compatible kernel initially written by Linus Torvalds. It wasnot written for the GNU project, but Linux and the almost-complete GNUsystem made a useful combination. This combination provided all themajor essential components of a Unix-compatible operating system, andwith some work, people made it into a usable system. It was a variantGNU system, based on the Linux kernel.Ironically, the popularity of these systems undermines our method ofcommunicating the GNU idea to people who use GNU. These systems aremostly the same as the GNU system--the main difference being thechoice of kernel. But people usually call them "Linux systems". Atfirst impression, a "Linux system" sounds like something completelydistinct from the "GNU system," and that is what most users think itis.Most introductions to the "Linux system" acknowledge the role playedby the GNU software components. But they don't say that the system asa whole is a modified version of the GNU system that the GNU projecthas been developing and compiling since 1984. They don't say that thegoal of a free Unix-like system like this one came from the GNUproject. So most users don't know these things.Since human beings tend to correct their first impressions less thansubsequent information calls for, those users who later learn aboutthe relationship between these systems and the GNU project still oftenunderestimate it.This leads many users to identify themselves as a separate communityof "Linux users", distinct from the GNU user community. They use allof the GNU software; in fact, they use almost all of the GNU system;but they don't think of themselves as GNU users, and often they don'tthink that the GNU idea relates to them.It leads to other problems as well--even hampering cooperation onsoftware maintenance. Normally when users change a GNU program tomake it work better on a particular system, they send the change tothe maintainer of that program; then they work with the maintainer,explaining the change, arguing for it, and sometimes rewriting it forthe sake of the overall coherence and maintainability of the package,to get the patch installed.But people who think of themselves as "Linux users" are more likely torelease a forked "Linux-only" version of the GNU program, and considerthe job done. We want each and every GNU program to work "out of thebox" on Linux-based systems; but if the users do not help, that goalbecomes much harder to achieve.How should the GNU project deal with this problem? What should we donow to spread the idea that freedom for computer users is important?We should continue to talk about the freedom to share and changesoftware--and to teach other users to value these freedoms. If weenjoy having a free operating system, it makes sense for us to thinkabout preserving those freedoms for the long term. If we enjoy havinga variety of free software, it makes sense for to think aboutencouraging others to write additional free software, instead ofadditional proprietary software.We should not accept the idea of two separate communities for GNU andLinux. Instead we should spread understanding that "Linux systems"are variants of the GNU system, and that the users of these systemsare GNU users as well as Linux users (users of the Linux kernel).Users who know this will naturally tend to take a look at the GNUphilosophy which brought these systems into existence.I've written this article as one way of doing that. Another way is touse the terms "Linux-based GNU system" or "GNU/Linux system", insteadof "Linux system," when you write about or mention such a system.Copyright 1996 Richard StallmanVerbatim copying and redistribution is permittedwithout royalty as long as this notice is preserved.