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Re: [News] 'Linux' Without the Linux; Portage Gets Thinner

____/ [H]omer on Wednesday 06 February 2008 14:11 : \____

> Verily I say unto thee, that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:
> 
>> GNU/something
>> 
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | This article might seem to be not serious, or even a little bit
>> | heretical. Well, so be it. I’ll write what I think I should write
>> | and what I see as true. Whether is it the same in your case — dear
>> | Reader — we’ll see. First of all, let me ask you a basic question:
>> | Which operating system do you use? What are the possible answers?
>> | Windows, Linux, Solaris or Mac OS X of course. But let us try to
>> | think different for a moment. Maybe it is possible, that this
>> | answer would be, for example KDE?
>> `----
>> 
>> http://polishlinux.org/gnu/gnusomething/
> 
> Very true. Four identical machines, running the same DE/WM with the same
> theme, and installed with the same packages, but with four different
> kernels (Linux, BSD, Solaris, Hurd) would for all intents and purposes
> be the /same/ "OS", as far as the casual observer was concerned.
> 
> Of course that is an oversimplification, since not all kernels are
> created equal (driver issues, amongst others), and the methodologies for
> things like initscripts and the FHS can vary, for example, as can
> networking (as I discovered to my frustration last time I tried
> OpenSolaris).

Well, this is a Linux newsgroups and the image of Linus must have played a role
in popularity. Honestly, the appearance of the likes of Stallman (and I don't
mean that in a bad way) repelled some business people.

> But this is yet another reason why it's ridiculous to call GNU/Linux
> just "Linux". In a future that may likely see an ever stronger challenge
> from the likes of Solaris, to the extent that several popular distros of
> GNU/Solaris take off in a big way, should we expect nobody to protest
> when they are incorrectly branded "Linux"? A distro completely devoid of
> anything connected to the Linux kernel ... still being called "Linux"
> anyway, because years of irrational resistance to the correct
> attribution for much of the code, has caused the truth to become
> obfuscated by abbreviation.

Some hours ago I spotted a very misinformed blog item that said something
like "Ubuntu is getting bigger than Linux" and "Mac OS is based on UNIX".
Among other things...

> Now don't get me wrong; I'm not eager for Linux (kernel) to be usurped
> quite yet. As technically good as it is, BSD is a non-starter from a
> license (what license?) perspective, and the Hurd is grossly incomplete.
> The last time I tried OpenSolaris (last year), it was like stepping back
> in time to the prehistoric days of ULTRIX, but eventually Sun and the
> many other contributors will get it right, and the day may come when
> non-Linux distros are as popular as Linux ones, and maybe even as
> technically impressive.

It all comes down to POSIX and other commonalities. Remember that Linus used
Sun manuals to build Linux. Now it's Sun which is running after Linux
mimicking it. We are all on the same boat really.

> When that day comes, how will one choose a "distro" then? Will that
> choice be dictated by something as obscure as a kernel ... or will it be
> influenced by nothing more than the "look 'n feel", as so many GNU/Linux
> distro adopters are today?
> 
> Personally, I think I'd be swayed rather more by the license.

Zimbra taught a lot of people some good lessons. Pam posted this yesterday.
Have a look:

What Will Happen to Zimbra?

,----[ Quote ]
| Thousands of community members have written code for Zimbra for free. 
| Happily, those who were sensible enough to protect the code with the GPL will 
| be able to take it and fork. As for the rest, who knows? Those who chose 
| other licenses will find that Microsoft knows how to squeeze a license for 
| all the rights it wishes to hold, and the full impact of that may fall on 
| Zimbra. Live and learn.     
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080205073920414

-- 
                ~~ Best of wishes

Roy S. Schestowitz      | "Web 2.0 is everything that can be spammed" --Unknown
http://Schestowitz.com  |    RHAT Linux     |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
 15:05:01 up 13 days, 59 min,  3 users,  load average: 0.38, 1.10, 1.24
      http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project

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