this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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It's not a registered trademark... It's a Florida Corporation which gets an automatic trademark of sorts based on case law. It's complicated but if someone owns Foo Software and then makes a sale across state lines using that "mark" (in this case, "Foo" in the context of software) they get an automatic trademark on that name related to that good (software).
Planet Money did a whole podcast about it related to their Micro Face comic (someone sold beverages across state lines under the name, "Micro Face"). It's an excellent podcast. I highly recommend it (super interesting and funny).
But you know what? Fuck it: You can use the name, "Liftoff". Liftoff Software has been dead for several years now. Even though they sold stuff under that name across state lines many times (even internationally) that corporation is not coming back. So don't worry about it 👍