that old GNU/Linux argument

[Alexandre Oliva]

On Jul 28, 2008, Antonio Olivares <olivares14031 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>> > personal attack because we do not agree with your purist ways.
>> 
>> Purist?  Who's the one denying that it's not a combination of GNU
>> with Linux, but rather pure Linux? :-)

> I did not say pure Linux.  You are putting words* that I did not write here. 

Note the :-).  /me makes jokes, too.

> I am only resenting that name be forced when I simply know the
> system as a Linux system or Linux Operating System.

I just don't understand why you resent the messager, rather than those
who fooled you for all these years.


Think of it this way: if you keep on calling the operating system
Linux, you not only keep on strenghtening the movement against the
fundamental ideals of software freedom, you also deny those who
believe the name you choose and what it implies an opportunity to
learn about both movements and make up their own minds.  You bias them
against software freedom.

If that's what you want to accomplish, nothing I could say or ask
would change it.

But if you believe in letting people learn, think and decide for
themselves, rather than censoring information some opponents of the
Free Software movement want to hide from them to keep them in
ignorance and stop them from pursuing freedom, pretty please make the
tiny effort it takes to get used to naming the system GNU+Linux or
GNU/Linux.

-- 
Alexandre Oliva         http://www.lsd.ic.unicamp.br/~oliva/
Free Software Evangelist  oliva@{lsd.ic.unicamp.br, gnu.org}
FSFLA Board Member       ¡Sé Libre! => http://www.fsfla.org/
Red Hat Compiler Engineer   aoliva@{redhat.com, gcc.gnu.org}