Here’s an interesting piece of (not so) trivia I learnt recently.

When I first start using Linux, I came across the term GNU. I read briefly about it and gathered that it was an operating system, and, apparently, a large pocket of programs ran on it.

Interesting… I thought, having the wrong idea while dismissing it as a likely relic of the past, perhaps one that paved the way for modern operating systems.

It wasn’t until recently I dug a little deeper into the background and history of GNU, and discovered it was way more interesting than I had realised.

In actuality, the term GNU could be referring to the GNU project or the GNU operating system, whereas Linux, strictly speaking, is only an operating system kernel.

Here’s their story in 100 words or less…

Years ago, a group of brilliant programmers head by Richard Stallman started the GNU Project because they wanted people to have freedom in using computer software. Under the project, they developed the GNU operating system and also started working on a kernel call GNU Hurd. Before the kernel could work reliably for the general public, people started running the GNU system using the more mature Linux kernel. In the years that followed, this combination of GNU and Linux became the foundation of many system distributions, and the community got used to referring to such distributions in general as “Linux”.

Well, it isn’t quite surprising that there is a naming controversy surrounding these GNU/Linux based operating systems. Personally, I think “GNU/Linux” is the more suitable name. This could be because I only recently read a lot about GNU and became sympathetic towards it, or it could be that it’s clear to me that the creators of GNU aren’t getting nearly as enough credit as they deserve.