Editing GNU/Linux naming controversy (section)

== History ==
In 1983, [[Richard Stallman]], founder of the [[Free Software Foundation]], set forth plans of a complete [[Unix-like]] [[operating system]], called [[GNU]], composed entirely of [[free software]]. In September of that year, Stallman published a manifesto in ''[[Dr. Dobb's Journal]]'' detailing his new project publicly, outlining his vision of [[free software]].<ref name="handbookonopensource">{{cite book|first1=Kirk|last1=St.Amant|first2=Brian|last2=Still|title=Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives|year=2007|publisher=Information Science Reference |isbn=978-1591409991}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=17 November 2008|title=Q&A: Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation|url=https://www.itnews.com.au/news/qa-richard-stallman-founder-of-the-gnu-project-and-the-free-software-foundation-128452|access-date=31 July 2021|website=iTnews}}</ref> Software development work began in January 1984. By 1991, the GNU mid-level portions of the operating system were almost complete, and the upper level could be supplied by the [[X Window System]], but the lower level ([[kernel (operating system)|kernel]], device drivers, system-level utilities and [[Daemon (computing)|daemons]]) was still mostly lacking.

The kernel officially developed by GNU was called [[GNU Hurd]]. The Hurd followed an ambitious [[microkernel]] design, which proved unexpectedly difficult to implement early on. However, in 1991, [[Linus Torvalds]] independently released the first version of the Linux kernel. Early Linux developers [[porting|ported]] GNU code, including the [[GNU C Compiler]], to run with Linux, while the free software community adopted the use of the Linux kernel as the missing kernel for the GNU operating system. This work filled the remaining gaps in providing a completely free operating system.<ref name="FAQ" />

Over the next few years, several suggestions arose for naming operating systems using the Linux kernel and GNU components. In 1992, the [[Yggdrasil Linux]] distribution adopted the name "Linux/GNU/[[X Window System|X]]". In [[Usenet]] and mailing-list discussions, one can find usages of "GNU/Linux" as early as 1992,<ref>{{ cite newsgroup | url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.unix.misc/msg/698d1e2b49c5854e | title = Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Alpha release Linux/GNU/X ... | newsgroup = comp.unix.misc | date = 26 November 1992 | author = Jamie Mazer | access-date = 3 February 2008 }}</ref> and of "GNU+Linux" as early as 1993.<ref>{{ cite newsgroup | url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux/msg/dcf89e95ca953b69 | title = The free software myth and the commercial myth | newsgroup = comp.os.linux | date = 18 May 1993 | author = Rodrigo Vanegas | access-date = 3 February 2008 }}</ref> The [[Debian]] project, which was at one time sponsored by the [[Free Software Foundation]], switched to calling its product "Debian GNU/Linux" in early 1994.<ref name="OReilly" /><ref>{{ cite newsgroup | url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.misc/msg/4c19177c383c9b21 | title = Linux/GNU in EE Times | newsgroup = comp.os.linux.misc | date = 12 May 1994 | author = Stephen Benson |message-id= 178@scribendum.win-uk.net | access-date = 31 January 2008 }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130515213520/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/File:Official_Debian_Linux_to_GNU_Linux_name_change_announcement.pdf Official announcement of the name change on the debian-announce mailing list]</ref><ref name="rebelcode">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIU1scm4w6QC&pg=PT100 | title=Rebel Code: Linux And The Open Source Revolution | publisher=[[Basic Books]] | author=Moody, Glyn | author-link=Glyn Moody | year=2002 | isbn=978-0738206707}}</ref>
This change followed a request by Richard Stallman (who initially proposed "LiGNUx," but suggested "GNU/Linux" instead after hearing complaints about the awkwardness of the former term).<ref name="faif2">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Sam |last2=Stallman |first2=Richard M. |date=2010 |title=Free as in Freedom 2.0 |url=https://static.fsf.org/nosvn/faif-2.0.pdf |publisher=GNU Press |page=151 |isbn=978-0-9831592-1-6 }}</ref> GNU's June 1994 ''Bulletin'' described "Linux" as a "free [[Unix]] system for [[Intel 80386|386]] machines" (with "many of the utilities and libraries" from GNU),<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bull17.html | title = GNU's Bulletin, vol. 1 no. 17 }}</ref> but the January 1995 ''Bulletin'' switched to the term "GNU/Linux" instead.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bull18.html | title = GNU's Bulletin, vol. 1 no. 18 }}</ref>

Stallman's and the FSF's efforts to include "GNU" in the name started around 1994, but were reportedly mostly via private communications (such as the above-mentioned request to Debian) until 1996.<ref>{{cite mailing list|url=https://lkml.org/lkml/2003/1/12/55 |author=Richard Stallman |title=Re: Why is Nvidia given GPL'd code to use in closed source drivers? |mailing-list=linux-kernel |date=12 January 2003 |publisher=Lkml.org |access-date=22 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{ cite newsgroup | url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.misc/msg/1241a2919efc4bc3 | title = Linux is a GNU system and the DWARF support | newsgroup = comp.os.linux.misc | date = 8 September 1994 | author = Matt Welsh | access-date = 3 February 2008 | quote = RMS's idea (which I have heard first-hand) is that Linux systems should be considered GNU systems with Linux as the kernel. }}</ref> In May 1996, Stallman released [[Emacs]] 19.31 with the [[Autoconf]] system target "linux" changed to "lignux" (shortly thereafter changed to "linux-gnu" in emacs 19.32),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Stallman|first1=Richard|title=emacs-19.31-19.32.diff-1|url=https://ftp.gnu.org/old-gnu/emacs/emacs-19.31-19.32.diff.gz|access-date=21 March 2017|pages=line 151–155}}</ref><ref name="FAQ">{{cite web|last1=Stallman|first1=Richard|title=GNU/Linux FAQ|url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#long}}</ref> and included an essay "Linux and the GNU system"<ref>{{cite web|last1=Stallman|first1=Richard|title=Linux and The GNU system|url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html|website=gnu.org|access-date=21 March 2017}}</ref> suggesting that people use the terms "Linux-based GNU system" (or "GNU/Linux system" or "Lignux" for short). He later used "GNU/Linux" exclusively, and the essay was superseded by Stallman's 1997 essay, "Linux and the GNU System".<ref name="linuxandgnu">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html|title=Linux and the GNU System|last=Stallman|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Stallman|publisher=Gnu.org|access-date=22 June 2011}}</ref>