sarah@fsf.org wrote:
> I was just informed that I should not be putting user groups on the Wiki
> that only specifically use Linux.  They must call themselves GNU/Linux if
> using Linux in the name.  I'm sorry for taking up your time.

This is regrettable.

> If you are curious (as I was) to know more about the reason for GNU/Linux
> and not just Linux, go to http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html

> -Sarah

Thank you, I am quite conversant with this "distinction", having given
numerous talks on the history of Unix, Linux, and the free software
movement. Insistence on this distinctions is, in my opinion, petty,
pedantic, and rigidly ideological.

And it is, I understand, a personal crusade of one Richard M. Stallman.

I am grateful to Mr. Stallman for his years of work in the FSF, and
especially his early work putting together the gnu core utilities that
make such platforms as BSD and Linux usable. (By the way, does he insist
that BSD be called Gnu-BSD?) And I truly sympathize if he feels that he
and the FSF are deprived of their due credit when when people refer to
"Linux" rather than "Gnu-Linux". But such is life some times.

Both Gnu and Linux are part of the Unix tradition. So is terseness.
Not only is "Gnu-Linux" not terse, it is downright clumsy to say. By
contrast, "Linux" is short, simple, euphonic, and even catchy.

Additionally the term "Gnu-Linux" tends to confuse new users, who think
you are talking about a specific version or distribution of Linux,
rather than using a different term for the same thing. Such a supposition
is quite logical. Consider the general terseness of the UNIX tradition:
Suffixes and prefixes are added to words to make distinctions among them.

At a recent MDLUG meeting a new member asked about this. Regrettably the
issue was dismissed with a reference to Richard Stallman, and the
explanation that "He's a rigid ideologue." This is kind of a shame,
considering his considerable body of work and his many other
contributions. But it becomes more and more what he is known for.

MDLUG was MDLUG before I ever heard of it. Linux was simply called Linux
before I heard of it. When someone speaks of "Gnu-Linux" (very few
people do) I do not presume to correct or argue with them. I know what
they are talking about, and they are not "wrong". I can't remember the
last time anyone "corrected" me for talking about "Linux" but I think I
would have ignored it and continued with what ever I was saying.

If people had all been talking about "Gnu-Linux" fifteen years ago when
I first heard of it, then that is probably what I would call it. But
they didn't and I don't. That ship has sailed and I don't see it coming
back. Demanding such broad change now (yes I know this demand has been
around for a while) seems as much a demand for deference as for credit.

At MDLUG it's all about the software, not the personalities or the
politics. All views on this and like topics are tolerated and seldom
argued. It is regrettable that in some quarters this is not the case.

It's regrettable that your organization refuses to work with us unless
we change our name. You might do better with mug.org, they have neither
Linux, nor Gnu in their name. But too bad about the Toledo Area LUG
(talug.org), the Washtenaw LUG (lugwash.org), the Greater Lansing LUG
(gllug.org), the Grand Rapids LUG (grlug.org), the University of
Michigan LUG (www.umich.edu/~umlug), West Michigan LUG (www.wmlug.org/),
Michigan Tech LUG (lug.mtu.edu)... Most all of Michigan as far as I can see.

As Britain and the US are "two nations divided by the same language" we
may just be two movements divided by the same operating system. Hopefully we
can work together. We're going in (mostly) the same direction. We just don't
march to your organization's drummer's drum beat.

Mr. Stallman might be, at times, petty, pedantic, and a rigid ideologue,
but I know he is also your boss. (I expect/hope that you don't report to
him directly) Good luck with your internship, Sarah.

Raymond McLaughlin
President MDLUG

P.S. I often like to listen to the music of Elton John. You might insist
that I say "the lyrics of Bernie Taupin sung by Elton John", but I don't.
Nobody does.
RSM