GNU/[Linux(TM)] etc.

For those not on the GNOME foundation list, some mischief courtesy George. (I quote in its entirety for maximum effect.)

On Wed, Jan 21, 2004 at 12:27:36AM +0000, Alan Cox wrote:
> On Maw, 2004-01-20 at 15:31, Richard Stallman wrote:
> > In connection with GNOME, please remember to speak of it as
> > “free software”, and to call the system “GNU/Linux”. Many people
>
> With respect to the use of the term GNU/Linux please use Linux with the
> (TM) or the trademark symbol in situations where it might otherwise
> imply things like ownership (eg GNU/), otherwise it may lead to
> misleading assumptions about the Linux name

But that could lead to an ambiguity as in GNU/Linux(TM), which can mean two
things, GNU / Linux(TM) or GNU/Linux (TM). Perhaps we need to add a set of
parenthesis as in: GNU/[Linux(TM)]. The notation is also confusing as the
system is really the natural homomorphism from GNU to GNU/[Linux(TM)] (then
[Linux(TM)] is of course the kernel of this homomorphism). And so
GNU/[Linux(TM)] is rather what you get after you apply the whole operating
system to GNU. To avoid this further ambiguity I think the entire system
should be called (using LaTeX as ascii is now deficient)

\phi : GNU \rightarrow GNU/[Linux(TM)]

When one wants to purely refer to Linux(TM) as the kernel, we can shorten
this by just \ker(\phi), which is 1 letter longer, but only in ascii. When
printed it actually comes out as 6 characters as opposed to 9 in Linux(TM).

George continues, but you get the point….

One Comment

  1. Hi! I’ve selected Ubuntu for my desktops (home network), but I’m still shopping for a Server OS (Ubuntu is still missing somewhat in that area).
    I would like to use Debian stable (when sarge hits the net), and I saw talks that they will introduce a fixed release cycle like Ubuntu (but 12-18 months).
    Can anyone confirm if there is already a decision on that? I dread installing something that is nog going to be updated another 3 years 🙂
    Thanx for any help)

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