On Thu, 10 Mar 2005, Dave Carlson wrote:
>> Has anyone considered that *GNU* wouldn't be much of anywhere without
>> Linux?
>
> Yeah - GNU has. They were in the process of writing a kernel when Linux
> came along:
>
> "The initial goal of a free Unix-like operating system has been
> achieved. By the 1990s, we had either found or written all the major
> components except one--the kernel. Then Linux, a free kernel, was
> developed by Linus Torvalds."
>
> Were Linux not released - (IMO) in this alternate universe, kernel
> hackers would eventually form around GNU or ast, and a free kernel would
> be released.
There is GNU Hurd, but I'm sure that project was slowed because of
interest in getting the Linux kernel working well with GNU software.
I notice that none of the GNU antagonists had a response to Torvald's own
words on the topic when I posted them earlier today:
Sadly, a kernel by itself gets you nowhere. To get a working system you
need a shell, compilers, a library etc. ... Most of the tools used with
linux are GNU software and are under the GNU copyleft.
That was from his first release of Linux (0.01).
Mike