Say GNU/Linux One More Time. I dare ya.
Why putting "GNU/" before "Linux" is just plain dumb.
The following is an excerpt from my 2013 book “Linux is [BLEEP]”. (That bleep is a naughty word that is a synonym with “awesome”.) My goodness that book had a lot of swearing in it. Yet it became a bestseller. Crazy.
While I don’t go in for the whole “swear like a sailor” thing anymore, there were a few parts of that book that still make me smile.
This is one of them. Me ranting about “GNU/Linux” naming. With some of the naughty words removed. ;)
I get in a fair bit of trouble for not saying “Gee-En-You-Forward-Slash-Linux”. As most of you probably know, that is what Richard Stallman, and a bunch of other guys, like to call any Linux distro.
The reason they like to call it “GNU/Linux” instead of just plain old “Linux” is that many of the GNU projects (such as the GCC compiler) are pretty critical to building and using a system sitting on top of the Linux kernel. That logic makes total sense. So I get where they're coming from.
Unfortunately I simply cannot call it “GNU/Linux”.
You know why? Because it is a crazy stupid name. It just is. It sounds dumb. It looks dumb. And it makes me feel dumb whenever I say it.
Heck. We could call the entire system “puppy fart rainbow” for all I care. I would still use it and love it.
In fact, I think it's darn weird that anyone would care about what people call Linux. As long as we all use the same words (or close enough) so that we know what we're all talking about, that's good enough for me.
No. I'm wrong on that.
It's not weird that someone would care. Because, obviously, I care. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing this little ditty right now. What's weird is that someone would make a big stink about it. Such as Richard Stallman refusing to speak at events that use the word “Linux” without also putting a “GNU/” in front of it.
[Wait. Wait. I say “it's weird” that someone would make a stink about it... when I am making a stink about it. Dang it. I'm loosing this argument with myself.]
I mean, if you're going to make a stink about a name that refers to a big group of software, built by a large number of people, at least make the name a good one. RoboSharkLazer or something. That way it's more fun for me.
That's really a key point, I suppose. I'd really appreciate it if everyone chose project names that I found amusing.
Another thing that irks me: being adamant about calling it “GNU/Linux” is making a point that multiple projects and people contributed significantly to whatever Linux distro you are running. Now, I'm all for people and projects getting proper credit. But if we're going to feel compelled to name our Operating System by creating a large list of included project names (with lots of forward slashes) things would get stupidly ridiculous in a heartbeat.
GNU/Linux/Qt/GTK/ncurses/wget/Firefox/GNOME/KDE/GEdit... on and on it goes. Until someone punches me in the nose. To cut all of those projects out of that name would be extremely disrespectful to them… right?
And, really, even then that doesn't feel properly indicative of the actually system being used. Why is “GNU” listed first? Wouldn't it make more sense to list the project names in order of closeness to the hardware? The GNU tools really sit on top of the Linux kernel (in a way). So “Linux/GNU” would make far more sense.
All of which tells me that the whole “GNU/” thing is pure vanity.
Which... I am totally, completely okay with.
I love vanity. I am one vain little dude. [This is true.] But I also like it when people, in the act of being vain, simply own up to it. Owning up to vanity is awesome.
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