[ Linux Today reader Joe Drew reports:. ]
I’ve written up an essay on just why GNU/Linux
distributions should be called GNU/Linux on my site, Woot.net. This was actually written some
time ago, but has only just recently found the light of
day.
“Debian GNU/Linux may qualify as the end result of the GNU
project, a wholly free UNIX-like operating system. However, all
distributions were built on the GNU system, which lacked only a
kernel. By taking the Linux kernel and the GNU system and and
combining the two, makers of distributions create GNU-based Linux
systems, complete with their own customisations. This is what rms
had in mind when he envisioned GNU; a system so free, you can take
parts of it and make it into another, completely different system.
Whatever you call the system, it exists solely because of GNU – and
that is why it’s called GNU/Linux.”