Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Can GNU Ever Be Unix?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the how-much-wood-could-a-woodchuck-chuck dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The question isn't whether Linux can be certified as Unix. At least some distributions no doubt can. But who would pay for it? And is it worth the trouble? Jem Matzan asks these questions on NewsForge, and reminds us that the Open Group, not SCO, owns the Unix trademark,"

3 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. The *real* question is ... by ggvaidya · · Score: 5, Insightful

    can Unix ever be *nix?

    Seriously, for all practical purposes, GNU + Linux is setting the trend now. Ask IBM, Novell, SCO ...

  2. Why? by lphuberdeau · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is there really a good reason why would GNU be considered as UNIX officially? GNU has it's own credibility. What is UNIX anyway? Does anyone have a concrete definition of what UNIX is right now (no historical reasons, not the fact that the filesystem starts with /).

    --
    Qui ne va pas à la chasse n'a pas de gibier
    PHP Queb
    1. Re:Why? by k4_pacific · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The Unix trademark is allowed on anything that confroms to several standards laid out by the Open Group who owns the Unix trademark. Linux on X86 won't comply becuase some of the errno codes are incorrect, being based on Minix, which also uses incorrect values. GNU/Linux for other platforms could qualify as they are, but again, GNU/Linux seems to be evolving as its own standard which seems to be more widely supported because of the freeness and wide availability of Linux.

      --
      Unknown host pong.