I disagree - I think it should be called GNU/Linux. |
Christ, not this here, too. I have this discussion once every two days.
1. GNU is not an integral part of the OS. You could replace it with a different userland or even leave the kernel running by itself and the system will still be Linux. If you put in a BSD kernel then it's not Linux anymore. Why should something so malleable be in the name of the OS?
2. Don't other packages that are as big, if not bigger, than the userland deserve any credit?
3. FreeBSD (and probably other BSDs as well) uses code from the GNU. Most notably, a modified GCC. Why isn't the FSF on a quest to rename those?
4. Ultimately, whether a Linux distro uses the GNU userland or not is up to the distro developers. It's their responsibility to name their distro Distro Linux or Distro GNU/Linux.
IMO: Despite what he claims, RMS doesn't care about giving credit to the GNU project (which is
his project, anyway. Quick, name me a contributor other than RMS). He wants to get himself credit for something he didn't make. Namely, the GNU OS. Even if this was some wacky backwards universe where GNU/Linux was the proper name for the OS, I'd still call it Linux just to spite him.
Back then, microkernels were the newest thing. Torvalds once got into a famous Usenet discussion with Tanenbaum (a professor at his university and the guy who wrote Minix, which he hated) about why and why not to use microkernels and monolithic kernels. I recommend you read it.
NT is hybrid.