this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2023
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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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Pretty sure most of you already know this but for those who don't: you have two clipboards in Linux. One is the traditional clipboard where you copy with control c and paste with control v. The other one is when you highlight text and use the mouse middle click to paste text.

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 11 months ago (9 children)

Please stop calling it gun/Linux UNLESS you also use

  • Firestone/bus
  • chisel/David
  • vacuum/Danielle Smith

Etc.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't understand a single example you gave. I always call it Linux. But, what?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Linux is the kernel, useless without actual programs to run on it. In general the minimal set of programs to make a Linux system actually useful (cd, ls, cat, ...) are provided by the coreutils package, a GNU project.

RMS, the founder of GNU, was pissed that people were using Linux + his software and simply calling it Linux, so he insisted that the proper generic name for "Linux" distributions was actually "GNU/Linux" (i.e. GNU utilities + Linux kernel).

OP's joke is that we name stuff without specifying their components or needed tools all the time, so we shouldn't bother doing it for Linux.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I understood all of that. I didn't understand the examples. Chisel, David, etc..

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Michelangelo's David is a well-known marble statue which was carved using a chisel.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

I don't get it, why would you even be mad about someone referring it as GNU/Linux?

In that case it's even just either X org or the wayland compositor that may implement that, not "linux".

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

Please stop lecturing people about how to talk.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

But why would you call this linux when this is not linux specific thing anyway

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I mean, we live in a world where there are multiple use cases for non-GNU/Linux (i.e. Alpine). Surely the distinction has become useful.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yes, thank you! Just call it Linux.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think going of out your way to type four more letters shows appropriate appreciation for the historical significance of the GNU project.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I think that sort of pedantry over semantics is one of the reasons the Linux community has such a bad reputation.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

You vlassifying it as "pedantry" supports my point. It's also ironic, considering you told somebody else to not call it GNU+Linux instead of the other way around.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

pedantry over semantics

Just call it Linux

Pick one.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Sorry? Are you okay?

[–] possiblylinux127 1 points 11 months ago