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72 lines
2.5 KiB
72 lines
2.5 KiB
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<html> |
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<version>1</version> |
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<head> |
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<title>What is the GNU-Project?</title> |
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<body> |
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<h1>What is the GNU project?</h1> |
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<div id="introduction"> |
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<div class="image"> |
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<img src="/graphics/heckert_gnu.small.png" alt="GNU head" /> |
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</div> |
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<p>The <a href="http://www.gnu.org">GNU project</a> was launched in |
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September 1983 by Richard M. Stallman to create a complete operating |
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system which is <a href="/freesoftware/freesoftware.html">Free Software</a>. |
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Software development work started the following January. Today we have |
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several Free Software operating systems which respect the users' freedom |
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by giving everybody the right to use, study, share, and improve the |
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software for any purpose.</p> |
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</div> |
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<p> |
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Stallman established the Free Software Foundation in October 1985 to |
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assist administrative, legal, and organisational aspects of the GNU |
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project and also to spread the use and knowledge of Free Software. |
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The main licences of the GNU project are the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GNU General Public |
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License (GPL)</a> and the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html">GNU Lesser General Public License</a> (LGPL, |
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originally called GNU Library General Public License). Over the years |
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they have become established as the most widely used licences for Free |
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Software. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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The GNU project consists of numerous smaller sub-projects maintained |
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by volunteers or businesses or combinations of the two. These |
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sub-projects themselves are also called "GNU projects" or "GNU |
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packages." |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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The name of the GNU project is derived from the recursive acronym |
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"GNU's Not Unix." Unix was a very popular operating system in the |
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80s, so Stallman designed GNU to be mostly compatible with Unix so |
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that it would be convenient for people to migrate to GNU. The name |
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acknowledges that GNU learned from Unix's technical design, but also |
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importantly notes that they are unrelated. Unlike Unix, GNU is Free |
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Software. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Being Unix-like, GNU is modular in design. This means that third |
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party components can be inserted into GNU. Today, it is very common |
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for people to use a third party kernel called Linux with GNU systems. |
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Many people use the name "Linux" for this variant of GNU, but this |
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prevents people from hearing of the GNU project and its goal of |
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software freedom. FSFE asks people to use the term "GNU/Linux" or |
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"GNU+Linux" when refering to such systems. |
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</p> |
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</body> |
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</html> |
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