GNU bug report logs - #9210
Documentation: misleading wording

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Message #23 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Christophe Jarry <christophe.jarry <at> ouvaton.org>
To: Libtool Bugs List <bug-libtool <at> gnu.org>
Cc: Bob Friesenhahn <bfriesen <at> simple.dallas.tx.us>
Subject: Re: bug#9210: Documentation: misleading wording
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 16:34:57 +0200

Bob,

As a GNU maintainer, you have to comply with the document named "Information
for Maintainers of GNU Software":

From http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#Preface:

    If you are or would like to be a GNU maintainer, then it is essential to
    follow these guidelines.

From http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#GNU-and-Linux:

    The GNU Project was formed to develop a free Unix-like operating system,
    GNU. The existence of this system is our major accomplishment. However, the
    widely used version of the GNU system, in which Linux is used as the kernel,
    is often called simply “Linux”. As a result, most users don’t know about the
    GNU Project’s major accomplishment—or more precisely, they know about it,
    but don’t realize it is the GNU Project’s accomplishment and reason for
    existence. Even people who believe they know the real history often believe
    that the goal of GNU was to develop “tools” or “utilities.”

    To correct this confusion, we have made a years-long effort to distinguish
    between Linux, the kernel that Linus Torvalds wrote, and GNU/Linux, the
    operating system that is the combination of GNU and Linux. The resulting
    increased awareness of what the GNU Project has already done helps every
    activity of the GNU Project recruit more support and contributors.

    Please make this distinction consistently in GNU software releases, GNU
    documentation, and announcements and articles that you publish in your role
    as the maintainer of a GNU package. If you want to explain the terminology
    and its reasons, you can refer to the URL
    http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html.

    To contrast the GNU system properly with respect to GNU/Linux, you can call
    it “GNU/Hurd” or “the GNU/Hurd system.” However, when that contrast is not
    specifically the focus, please call it just “GNU” or “the GNU system.”

    When referring to the collection of servers that is the higher level of the
    GNU kernel, please call it “the Hurd” or “the GNU Hurd.” Note that this uses
    a space, not a slash.

Please fix section "Platform-specific configuration notes" of Libtool's manual
accordingly.

Christophe

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