We've already had evidence posted to this list that FSF-owned tools
constitute less than 10% of the SuSE OS distribution.
Please, just let this drop. If it bothers you that much, you had the power
to require credit in a particular form when YOU DRAFTED THE GNU GENERAL
PUBLIC LICENSE. You abstained from that requirement, and insisted on a
license without restrictions.
Don't be annoyed when people actually take you up on that offer.
> Calling the operating system just Linux confuses most users--anyone
> who doesn't have a real firm understanding of the difference and
> relationship between the whole system and the kernel.
I'd argue that the average user doesn't have a firm understanding of what
GNU or the FSF is. And that's -your- marketing problem, not ours. Perhaps
you'd have better luck talking to the people who actually -make- the
distributions, rather than a kernel hackers list?
Or did they tell you to take a flying leap too?
> These people see statements about "Linux", some of which refer to the
> kernel and some of which refer to the whole system, and they don't
> realize that not all the statements are talking about the same thing.
Nor do they -care-. The "average user" couldn't care less. All they know
is the sum of the parts put together. And for that, they recognize names
such as Red Hat, SuSE, Slackware, Pacific Hi-Tech, etc.
If you want them to change the names of their products, maybe you should
talk to them, instead of grandstanding and pushing your personal agenda at
press conferences about products you had no hand in developing. Might be
more productive for everyone, don't you think?
(Personally, I used to agree with your stances. But this kind of "on the
coattails of Linux popularity" grandstanding is truly irritating. If you
really want GNU and FSF all over something, make your own distribution.)
-- Edward S. Marshall <emarshal@logic.net> [ What goes up, must come down. ] http://www.logic.net/~emarshal/ [ Ask any system administrator. ]Linux labyrinth 2.2.3-ac4 #2 Sun Mar 21 13:08:37 CST 1999 i586 unknown 5:55pm up 7 days, 2:16, 4 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
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