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#25254
[minor] 'About' page says GuixSD is a "GNU/Linux distribution"
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Message #31 received at 25254 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
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On Fri, Dec 23, 2016 at 18:35:26 +0100, David Craven wrote:
> Besides on most systems there is a lot more software than just what is
> provided by GNU or Linux. If we want to be precise we can call it a
> mostly POSIX distribution.
It's a common misunderstanding that "GNU" refers to only to GNU
programs. GNU is a complete operating system, which contains a lot of
non-GNU software. GNU didn't develop its own replacements if other free
replacements were available. This article does well to explain:
https://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html
Developing a whole system is a very large project. To bring it into
reach, I decided to adapt and use existing pieces of free software
wherever that was possible. For example, I decided at the very
beginning to use TeX as the principal text formatter; a few years
later, I decided to use the X Window System rather than writing
another window system for GNU.
Because of these decisions, and others like them, the GNU system is not
the same as the collection of all GNU software. The GNU system includes
programs that are not GNU software, programs that were developed by
other people and projects for their own purposes, but which we can use
because they are free software.
--
Mike Gerwitz
Free Software Hacker+Activist | GNU Maintainer & Volunteer
GPG: D6E9 B930 028A 6C38 F43B 2388 FEF6 3574 5E6F 6D05
Old: 2217 5B02 E626 BC98 D7C0 C2E5 F22B B815 8EE3 0EAB
https://mikegerwitz.com
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This bug report was last modified 8 years and 146 days ago.
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