Stallman changes position on GNU/Linux Issue
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - Richard Stallman, known as RMS to his friends and the community, announces an important change in the GNU project today, from his former home in the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab.
"For some time now, people have called me hypocritical in requesting the GNU/Linux name for the Linux kernel which has been attached to the operating system based upon the GNU toolchain. But I firmly believe the lack of GNU acknowledgement to be completely unfair," said an upbeat Richard Stallman at today's conference.
"But I understand that I have made a terrible mistake. I have been requesting a fair level of acknowledgement for the GNU project, while at the same time, I have failed to grant that same level of acknowledgement to myself!" he stated to the confused gathering of median and open source celebrities. "It was shameful of me to request acknowledgement in the Linux project, when my own GNU project suffers from the same problem."
His solution? "GNU will henceforth be known as Stallman/GNU."
"It is only fair that I, as the principal contributor to GNU, should have my name as part of the title. I am an intergal part of GNU, and without me, GNU would be nothing." According to Stallman, the GNU license will become the Stallman/GNU license. And projects based upon the former GNU license or software must carry the Stallman/GNU name.
"I am not backing off on my claim one bit that Linux should give proper recognition to its major components. And now that I have the moral authority to make such a claim. I am demanding that Linux be henceforth referred to as Stallman/GNU/Linux."
"We use Linux-based GNU systems today for most of our work, and we hope you use them too. But please don't confuse the public by using the name "Linux" ambiguously. Linux is the kernel, one of the essential major components of the system. The system as a whole is more or less the GNU system. And I am GNU."
When asked if he discussed the suggested name change in Linux with Linus Torvalds, Stallman repsonded, "Linux? Don't you mean Stallman/GNU/Linux?"
Posted on Fri 31 Aug 11:06:58 2001 PDT
Written by Josh McCormick jmccorm@galstar.com>
