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Stephen Fry Helps GNU Celebrate 25th Birthday
Virgil Tibbs writes "The GNU operating system is turning 25 this year, and the Free Software Foundation has kicked off its month-long celebration of the anniversary by releasing 'Happy Birthday to GNU,' a short film featuring the English humorist, actor, novelist and filmmaker Stephen Fry. In the five-minute film, Fry compares the free software operating system to 'good science' and contrasts it with the 'kind of tyranny' imposed by the proprietary software produced by companies like Microsoft and Apple that it replaces. He encourages people to use free GNU/Linux distributions like gNewSense and free software generally, for freedom's sake."
Fortunately, utube have it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dcxtEKShXA
Red Leader Standing By!
because you're factually wrong. linux is a kernel. most of the utilities are from the gnu project.
Go have a look at http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html
You'll find he is open and honest, and gives credit where it is due. He does NOT claim to have written the whole thing.
The months are just too short. I can count the number of days on one hand.
If you build a car out of 25 year old parts, does that make the car 25 years old?
It all depends. At least in the UK, if a certain proportion of the parts used are 25 years old, then yes, you can call the car 25 years old as far as registrations are concerned. Different major parts are worth different amounts of points. Easy to change items like the engine and gearbox aren't worth much, but things like the axles and chassis are worth more.
This is why you can build a kit car out of an old Ford Escort and give it the registration number that the Escort had. If there aren't enough points to make the new car eligible to use the donor vehicle's registration, or it's a mix of parts, then the car might get a "Q Plate" (like "Q123 ABC") - Q was never used as a year code.
HURD's been out for ages, but it doesn't have great hardware support. You can install Debian currently on Linux, HURD, or a FreeBSD kernel. You can also install the GNU operating system with a Solaris kernel (Nexenta).
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Nothing you said contradicts the parent poster. GNU wrote a lot of utilities, but their attempt at an OS was Hurd and it failed. Linux was created by Linus Torvalds and heavily leverages GNU tools, but is not GNU's OS. The whole point of Free Software, by the way, is for people like Torvalds to be able to copy the source and do wonderful things with it. It's pretty disingenuous to then turn around and assert naming rights over someone else's creation.
E pluribus unum
Linux isn't claimed by Stallman. Distributions of Linux, which use GNU libc, the GNU loader, the GNU shell and the GNU toolchain, to build and run all of their programs are claimed by Stallman. Without a libc and a loader, a kernel is pretty useless. In terms of volume of code, the GNU components required to launch a useful program are larger than the Linux components, and yet you feel it's fair to call the compound entity 'Linux?' He doesn't ask you to call it GNU/Linux if you're using uclibc, your own loader, and zsh, for example, but if the core of the system is made almost entirely of GNU code then calling it 'Linux' is a slap in the face to all of the GNU developers. Not that I'd object to slapping a few of the GNU libc developers in the face...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
He's talked about Open Source a fair bit in his 'Dork Talk' section in the Guardian, with a particular article entitled 'Deliver us from Microsoft'
"The two great pillars of Open Source are the GNU project and Linux. I shan't burden you with too much detail, I'll just make the outrageous claim that your computer will be running some descendant of those two within the next five years and that your life will be better and happier as a result."
If you're a fan of Mr Fry and haven't read his blog or (especially) heard his podcast you're in for a pleasant surprise if you click his name in the summary above.
My excuse for not knowing about them until last month is that his presence on Antipodean television is regrettably meagre.
I’m old enough to remember 16K of memory being described as “whopping”
You obviously haven't ever used it.
I encountered this debate, and to solve it, reviewed it!
I found it pretty good!
You now can get IceCat.
I don't find gNewSense any more hard to get along with than $foo distribution.
www.tdobson.net #### Dare to Dream #### blog.tdobson.net
The second person in Europe to own an Apple II (after his good friend Douglas Adams). Steve Jobs is also a personal friend, apparently.
No, he was the second person in Europe (supposedly) to own an Apple Macintosh, Douglas Adams being the first.
My blog
I'm at work - Windows Media Player auto-loaded the Ogg codecs and played the video just fine.
And he played a number of hilarious roles throughout the Black Adder series - funnier than hell.