[Mageia-discuss] Linux is a KERNEL not an OS

[André Salaün]

But on fr.wikipedia :
« Linux, ou GNU/Linux, est un système d’exploitation compatible POSIX
de type UNIX. Linux est fondé sur le noyau Linux, logiciel libre créé
en 1991 par Linus Torvalds. Il est souvent utilisé avec les logiciels
du système d’exploitation libre GNU. »

I suppose we have to read others no-english " wikipedia " too ?
For example es.wikipedia :

Linux es un núcleo (también denominado Kernel) de sistema operativo
libre tipo Unix.3 Es uno de los principales ejemplos de software libre
y código abierto. Linux está licenciado bajo la GPL v2 y está
desarrollado por colaboradores de todo el mundo. El desarrollo del día
a día tiene lugar en la Linux Kernel Mailing List.

or italien one :

« 
Linux (o GNU/Linux), pronunciato /ˈlɪnʊks/[3], è un sistema operativo
libero di tipo Unix (o unix-like) costituito dall'integrazione del
kernel Linux con elementi del sistema GNU e di altro software
sviluppato e distribuito con licenza GNU GPL o con altre licenze
libere. Supporto da società come IBM, Sun Microsystems,
Hewlett-Packard, Red Hat e Novell, Linux può essere installato su una
ampia gamma di computer, dai cellulari, tablet computer e console ai
mainframe e i supercomputer[4][5][6][7]. Linux è anche un sistema
operativo per server e fa funzionare i 10 supercomputer più veloci nel
mondo[8]. »

german : 

« Als Linux (dt. [ˈliːnʊks]) oder GNU/Linux (siehe
GNU/Linux-Namensstreit) werden in der Regel freie, unix-ähnliche
Mehrbenutzer-Betriebssysteme bezeichnet, die auf dem Linux-Kernel und
wesentlich auf GNU-Software basieren. Die weite, auch kommerzielle
Verbreitung wurde ab 1992 durch die Lizenzierung des Linux-Kernels
unter der GPL ermöglicht. »


I can't understand russian, greek arabic or mahori one one but it will
be very very interesting

So you can see that en.wikipedia is not the better one .
 
And RMS is clearly right : he knows that words produce ideas as well as
ideas produce words. 
Or do we have to accept a kind of « real politik » about free software
too ? It will be very curious...



Le Wed, 2 Mar 2011 09:57:33 -0300
"Renaud (Ron) OLGIATI" <renaud at olgiati-in-paraguay.org> a écrit:

> On Wednesday 02 March 2011, my mailbox was graced by a missive
>  from Richard Couture <rrc at linuxcabal.org> who wrote:
> 
> > Throughout the pages at www.Mageia.org there are references to Linux as 
> > if it is an OS or a distribution, which in my opinion not only robs the 
> > people of the GNU ṕroject of the credit for the great operating system 
> > that they have developed and maintain, but also is a great way for us to 
> > wave our flag of ignorance.
>  
> I am afraid that you have to accept that "Linux" has now gone the same way as 
> "Xerox" or "Freigidaire", and has acquired a wider meaning in common parlance 
> than its original.
> 
> We (and trademark lawyers) may deplore that state of affairs, we can try to 
> hold back the oncoming tide and use "GNU-Linux" whenever we get a chance, but 
> we must also accept that, for the great majority of those who know about 
> Linux, it has come to refer to the OS, not just the kernel.
> 
> To quote the Wikipedia entry on Linux:
> "Linux (commonly pronounced /ˈlɪnəks/ LIN-əks in American English,[also 
> pronounced /ˈlɪnʊks/ LIN-ooks in Europe) refers to the family of Unix-like 
> computer operating systems using the Linux kernel. "
>  
> Cheers,
>  
> Ron.
> -- 
>                     Défiez vous des premiers mouvements,
>                            parce qu'ils sont bons.
>                             -- Casimir, Comte de Montrond
>                                     
>                    -- http://www.olgiati-in-paraguay.org --