Editing GNU/Linux naming controversy (section)

== Opinions ==

{{Primary sources|section|date=November 2024}}

=== GNU/Linux ===
The FSF justifies the name "GNU/Linux" primarily on the grounds that the GNU project was specifically developing a complete system, of which they argue that the Linux kernel filled one of the final gaps;<ref name="linux-and-gnu"/> the large number of GNU components and GNU [[source code]] used in such systems is a secondary argument:

{{ quote
| So if you were going to pick a name for the system based on who wrote the programs in the system, the most appropriate single choice would be ''GNU''. But we don't think that is the right way to consider the question. The GNU Project was not, is not, a project to develop specific software packages. ''[...]'' Many people have made major contributions to the free software in the system, and they all deserve credit. But the reason it is an integrated system—and not just a collection of useful programs—is because the GNU Project set out to make it one. We made a list of the programs needed to make a complete free system, and we systematically wrote, or found people to write, everything on the list.
|Richard Stallman<ref name="linux-and-gnu">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html |title=Richard Stallman, "Linux and the GNU Project" |publisher=[[GNU Project]] |access-date=22 June 2011}}</ref>
}}

Other arguments include that the name "GNU/Linux" recognizes the role that the free-software movement played in building modern [[Free and open-source software|free and open source software communities]],<ref name="fsf-faq">{{cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html |title=GNU/Linux FAQ by Richard Stallman}}</ref> that the GNU project played a larger role in developing [[Package format|packages]] and software for [[Linux distribution|GNU/Linux or Linux distributions]],<ref name="linuxandgnu" /><ref name="FAQ" /> and that using the word "Linux" to refer to the Linux kernel, the operating system and entire distributions of software leads to confusion on the differences about the three. Because of this confusion, legal threats and [[public relations]] campaigns apparently directed against the kernel, such as those launched by the [[SCO Group]] or the [[Alexis de Tocqueville Institution]] (AdTI), have been misinterpreted by many commentators who assume that the whole operating system is being targeted. SCO and the AdTI have even been accused of deliberately exploiting this confusion.<ref>{{cite web | title = SCO-Caldera v IBM | url = http://www.mozillaquest.com/Linux03/ScoSource-10_Story01.html | author = Mike Angelo | date = 28 April 2003 | quote = Generally, SCO's [[SCO v. IBM|Caldera v IBM Complaint]] is vague and confusing as to whether the accusations involve the Linux kernel, the GNU/Linux operating system, Linux distributions, Linux applications, or whatever. | access-date = 12 June 2004 | archive-date = 14 September 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100914070329/http://www.mozillaquest.com/Linux03/ScoSource-10_Story01.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | quote = SCO has used "Linux" to mean "all free software", or "all free software constituting a UNIX-like operating system." This confusion, which the Free Software Foundation warned against in the past, is here shown to have the misleading consequences the Foundation has often predicted | author = Eben Moglen | author-link = Eben Moglen | date = 27 June 2003 | url = http://www.fsf.org/licensing/sco/sco-v-ibm.html | title = FSF Statement on SCO v IBM] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | quote = In particular, Stallman criticized the <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Kenneth Brown (author)|Ken Brown]]/AdTI<nowiki>]</nowiki> report for capitalizing on common confusion between the Linux kernel, which Stallman says "Linus really wrote", with the full GNU operating system and associated software, which can be and generally is used with the Linux kernel. | author = Lisa Stapleton | publisher = LinuxInsider | url = http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/34069.html | title = Stallman: Accusatory Report Deliberately Confuses | date = 27 May 2004 }}</ref>

Regarding suggestions that renaming efforts stem from egotism or personal pique, Stallman has responded that his interest is not in giving credit to himself but to the GNU Project: "Some people think that it's because I want my ego to be fed. Of course, I'm not asking you to call it 'Stallmanix'."<ref name="stallman-transcript">{{cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/events/rms-nyu-2001-transcript.html |title=Transcript of Richard M. Stallman's speech, "Free Software: Freedom and Cooperation", given at New York University in New York, NY, on 29 May 2001}}</ref>  In response to another common suggestion that many people have contributed to the system and that a short name cannot credit all of them, the FSF has argued that this cannot justify calling the system "Linux", since they believe that the GNU project's contribution was ultimately greater than that of the Linux kernel in these related systems.<ref name="FAQ" /><ref name="pedrocr-gnu" />

In 2010, Stallman stated that naming is not simply a matter of giving equal mention to the GNU Project, saying that because the system is more widely referred as "Linux", people tend to "think it's all Linux, that it was all started by Mr. Torvalds in 1991, and they think it all comes from his vision of life, and that's the really bad problem."<ref name="torvalds-role">{{cite web|date=26 July 2010|title=Richard Stallman talk+Q&A at the useR! 2010 conference (audio files attached)|url=https://www.r-statistics.com/2010/07/richard-stallman-talkqa-at-the-user-2010-conference-audio-files-attached/|work=R-statistics blog}}</ref>

[[Ariadne Conill]], the developer and security chair of [[Alpine Linux]], has stated that in her opinion GNU/Linux is the correct name when referring to Linux distributions that are based on [[glibc]] and [[coreutils]], such as [[Debian]] and [[Fedora Linux]]. This can be contrasted to other Linux distributions such as Alpine, which instead uses [[musl]] as its [[C library]] and [[BusyBox]] to provide core functionality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Conill |first=Ariadne |date=30 March 2022 |title=it is correct to refer to GNU/Linux as GNU/Linux |url=https://ariadne.space/2022/03/30/it-is-correct-to-refer-to-gnu/linux-as-gnu/linux/}}</ref>

=== Linux ===
Proponents of naming the operating systems "Linux" state that "Linux" is used far more often than "GNU/Linux".<ref name="MakeUseOf" /><ref name="OReilly" />

[[Eric S. Raymond]] writes (in the "Linux" entry of the [[Jargon File]]):

{{ quote
|Some people object that the name "Linux" should be used to refer only to the kernel, not the entire operating system. This claim is a proxy for an underlying territorial dispute; people who insist on the term GNU/Linux want the FSF to get most of the credit for Linux because [Stallman] and friends wrote many of its user-level tools. Neither this theory nor the term GNU/Linux has gained more than minority acceptance.
}}

When Linus Torvalds was asked in the documentary ''[[Revolution OS]]'' whether the name "GNU/Linux" was justified, he replied:

{{ quote
|Well, I think it's justified, but it's justified if you actually make a GNU distribution of Linux&nbsp;... the same way that I think that "Red Hat Linux" is fine, or "SUSE Linux" or "Debian Linux", because if you actually make your own distribution of Linux, you get to name the thing, but calling Linux in general "GNU Linux" I think is just ridiculous.<ref>{{ cite video | people = Moore, J.T.S. (Produced, Written, and Directed) | title = [[Revolution OS]] | medium = DVD | date = 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Linus Torvalds, Linux, GNU/Linux |website = [[YouTube]]| date=3 September 2009 | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlOCHYu1Vk }}</ref>}}

An earlier comment by Torvalds on the naming controversy was:

{{ quote
| Umm, this discussion has gone on quite long enough, thank you very much. It doesn't really matter what people call Linux, as long as credit is given where credit is due (on both sides). Personally, I'll very much continue to call it "Linux",&nbsp;...

The GNU people tried calling it GNU/Linux, and that's ok.  It's certainly no worse a name than "Linux Pro" or "Red Hat Linux" or
"Slackware Linux"&nbsp;...

Lignux is just a punny name—I think Linux/GNU or GNU/Linux is a bit more "professional"&nbsp;...<ref>{{cite newsgroup |url=https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.misc/msg/7781d4221fceedb2 |author=Linus Torvalds |title=Lignux, what's the matter with you people? |newsgroup=comp.os.linux.misc |date=3 June 1996}}</ref>
}}

The name "GNU/Linux," particularly when using Stallman's preferred pronunciation, has been criticized for its perceived clumsiness and verbosity,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.howtogeek.com/139287/the-great-debate-is-it-linux-or-gnulinux/ |title= The Great Debate: Is it Linux or GNU/Linux? |last=Hoffman |first=Chris |date= 4 March 2013 |access-date=22 December 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://everything2.com/user/ssd/writeups/It%2527s+GNU%252FLinux%253B+stop+calling+it+%2522Linux%2522 |title=It's GNU/Linux; stop calling it "Linux" (idea) |date=28 April 2001 |access-date=19 December 2016 }}</ref> a factor that Torvalds has cited as the downfall of operating systems such as [[386BSD]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://groups.google.com/group/comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit/msg/80bb74847934edc7 | title= Post | work = comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit | publisher = Google Groups | date= 16 March 1993 | author =Torvalds, Linus| access-date=19 February 2011 | quote=No. That's it. The cool name, that is. We worked very hard on creating a name that would appeal to the majority of people, and it certainly paid off: thousands of people are using linux just to be able to say "OS/2? Hah. I've got Linux. What a cool name". 386BSD made the mistake of putting a lot of numbers and weird abbreviations into the name, and is scaring away a lot of people just because it sounds too technical.}}</ref>

The ''[[Linux Journal]]'' speculated that Stallman's advocacy of the combined name stems from frustration that "Linus got the glory for what [Stallman] wanted to do."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://linux4u.jinr.ru/usoft/WWW/LJ/issue30/issue30.html#ftp30 | title = From the Publisher: On the Politics of Freedom | publisher = [[Linux Journal]] No. 30 (October 1996) | quote = Perhaps RMS is frustrated because Linus got the glory for what RMS wanted to do. | access-date = 12 June 2004 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041208112435/http://linux4u.jinr.ru/usoft/WWW/LJ/issue30/issue30.html#ftp30 | archive-date = 8 December 2004 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Others have suggested that, regardless of the merits, Stallman's persistence in what sometimes seems a lost cause makes him and GNU look bad. For example, [[Larry McVoy]] (author of [[BitKeeper]], once used to manage Linux kernel development) opined that "claiming credit only makes one look foolish and greedy".<ref>{{cite mailing list |url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9904.0/0301.html |author=Larry McVoy |title=Re: GNU/Linux |mailing-list=linux-kernel |date=3 April 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629031248/http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9904.0/0301.html |archive-date=29 June 2012  }}</ref>

Many users and vendors who prefer the name "Linux," such as [[Jim Gettys]], one of the original developers of the [[X Window System]], point to the inclusion of non-GNU, non-kernel tools, such as [[KDE]], [[LibreOffice]], and [[Firefox]], in end-user operating systems based on the Linux kernel:

{{ quote
| There are lots of people on this bus; I don't hear a clamor of support that GNU is more essential than many of the other components; can't take a wheel away, and end up with a functional vehicle, or an engine, or the seats. I recommend you be happy we have a bus.<ref>{{cite mailing list |url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9904.0/0497.html |author=Jim Gettys |title=Re: GNU/Linux |mailing-list=linux-kernel |date=5 April 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120806004757/http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9904.0/0497.html |archive-date=6 August 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
}}