Re: Why is Nvidia given GPL'd code to use in closed source drivers?

yodaiken
2003-01-09T23:58:10Z

On Thu, Jan 09, 2003 at 06:13:29PM -0500, Richard Stallman wrote:
> Just for the record, "operating system", and "kernel" are used as
> synonyms in the research literature.
>
> The term "operating system" has been used in both ways for a long
> time. When people speak about the "Linux operating system," most of
> them mean the larger GNU/Linux system--they are not using "operating
> system" to mean "kernel".

My point was just to note that people who look for information about emacs
or gcc in the proceedings of the OSDI or SIGOPS Symposium are going to
be disappointed.

> If you use some other term instead of "operating system" for the
> larger collection of software, it might remove one cause of confusion.

Programming environment. I say "Gnu tools" .

> That won't eliminate the question of what this collection's name
> should properly be, or correct the misinformation about how it was
> developed and by whom.

The bad news is that many of our customers now ask us if we support
"8.0" or "7.3". For them "Red Hat" is the name of the system. Bob Young's
ketchup vision has absorbed the world.

I'm sympathetic, but if there is anyone out there who has contributed
free software and gets full credit and no hate mail, I'd be very surprised.

Envy is emulation adapted to the meanest capacity.
Ambrose Bierce

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Victor Yodaiken
Finite State Machine Labs: The RTLinux Company.
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