Re: configure script

[ams@kemisten.nu (Alfred M. Szmidt)]

* David Kastrup writes:
> ss@janiika.com (Sami Sihvonen) writes:
>> You mean GNU/Linux, not Linux? :-) Really a shame for GNU/Linux
>> and Linus Torvalds that they don't notice all the efforts made
>> by GNU-Project and Free Software Foundation.

No, because it is making an distinction between the kernel, Linux, and
the system, GNU, which if you combine you get a GNU system using
Linux, GNU/Linux.

> A painting is named by painter, not by the paint manufacturer.
> Regardless how good or indispensible the paints have been for the
> work.

If a painting is named by the painter, then RMS has all the right to
name the "painting", Linus' _ONLY_ contribution was Linux, RMS (and
all the people that have contributed to the GNU project) busted his
ass of (to put it in mild terms) to produce what you take for
granted (GCC, GDB, GLIBC, Emacs, etc).  Linus' contribution is an
small smudge on the canvas, RMS' (and not to forget everyone who have
contributed to the GNU project) is the whole canvas, including the
paint, brushes, water to clean the brushes and actually painting the
painting, where Linus "just" signed it.

> That RMS quite shamelessly tries to hijack _all_ credit he can think
> of and feels comfortable with ignoring everybody else's contribution
> to Free systems as long as he gets his in, is quite hypocritical.

This has nothing to do with RMS getting more credit, the man has
enough credit to last a life time and more.  This has to do with the
rest of the people that helped with the GNU project.

> RMS never had any naming qualms when he subsumed X, or the BSD
> networking utilities and stacks, or Mach kernel, or whatever else
> into GNU/Hurd.

You are comparing apples to oranges.  XFree86 gets credit (you haven't
looked at the startup of XFree86 in a while have you?), so do all the
network utilities, stacks etc, just take a look at the first few lines
of the copyright header.  Here is a bit from GNU Mach:

 * Mach Operating System
 * Copyright (c) 1991,1990,1989 Carnegie Mellon University
 * All Rights Reserved.

And nobody has tried to deprive CMU from their credit, nor has anyone
tried to deprive anyone from any other credit.  The only project that
has been deprived of the credit is GNU.

-- 
Alfred M. Szmidt