GNU name no longer applies.
on
GNU Inside?
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· Score: 2
When RMS started the GNU project back in 84, he touted it as a UNIX compatible operating system, and expected it would only take a couple of years to write. If you read the 1986 Byte Magazine interview that comes with most Emacs distributions, he explains there are three major parts to the system - Emacs, the (then-unfinished) GNU compiler, and the Kernel. As of that time, he had finished two, and had one to go.
It's now been over 12 years, and the kernel is still not ready. In that time, the GNU project has assimilated other, non-GNU projects as part of the operating system, including the free X implementation XFree86, the GNOME desktop and the GIMP. These did not originate from the FSF, but are freely licensed under the GPL. However, history aside, what gives them precedence to claim these tools as part of the GNU system, and not Linux? I could easily say that a Linux system comprises these tools, plus the relevant GNU ones (mostly the C library and the compiler) and BSD contributions.
To say GNU/Linux is misleading. It may give GNU more coverage, but then logic dictates we should include tribute to the BSD people, the X people, and the many other contributors. To give a similar example, when the HURD is finally ready, are they willing to call it HURD/Mach, considering it is built on the free Mach microkernel from CMU?
I respect the fact that RMS made the first full-blown effort to create a fully working free Unix-type system. His contributions live on in Linux, and the "GNU inside" branding is not a bad idea at all. But his insistence on the "GNU/Linux" name is contradictory to common-sense.
Well I downloaded the driver yesterday and played around with it a little. On my RedHat 5.2 system under the 2.0.36 kernel (I've still got it lying around on my system) it worked OK. It's still quite choppy around the edges, and compatibility isn't great - IMHO calling it a beta may be a bit optimistic. x11amp works fine, but many other apps, including esound, mpg123 and my own project, which uses the STK streaming wave class, have problems ranging from degenerating sound output over time, to severe choppiness. On my recently
As for the binary driver issue, to be honest, before I downloaded it I couldn't care less, as long as it worked. Despite what others have said here, hardware-wise, there's nothing to touch the Live! at this price point, at least from a musician's point of view. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts (involving lots of/etc/conf.modules tweaking), I wasn't able to get the 2.2.5 driver (the latest one included) to work with my just-compiled 2.2.7 kernel that was prepared specifically to work with it (no SMP support, no installed sound drivers but sound driver support).
Sure, it's only a beta. But if they can't get a 2.2.5 driver to work on a 2.2.7 kernel, this doesn't bode well for the future - personally, I don't like the idea of having to hold on to an insecure kernel just so my soundcard works. There were 36 patches of the 2.0.x series...you do the maths;)
In the end, though, I'll reserve judgement for the finished product. At least I have clean MP3 playback under Linux now...one step closer to trashing that Windows partition*sigh*
I keep getting a "Connection refused - the server may be down" etc. message from Netscape. Could someone who downloaded it put it up somewhere? I've been hanging out for this for so long - now I can finally test my project (a virtual drum machine) on my better sound card...
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When RMS started the GNU project back in 84, he touted it as a UNIX compatible operating system, and expected it would only take a couple of years to write. If you read the 1986 Byte Magazine interview that comes with most Emacs distributions, he explains there are three major parts to the system - Emacs, the (then-unfinished) GNU compiler, and the Kernel. As of that time, he had finished two, and had one to go.
It's now been over 12 years, and the kernel is still not ready. In that time, the GNU project has assimilated other, non-GNU projects as part of the operating system, including the free X implementation XFree86, the GNOME desktop and the GIMP. These did not originate from the FSF, but are freely licensed under the GPL. However, history aside, what gives them precedence to claim these tools as part of the GNU system, and not Linux? I could easily say that a Linux system comprises these tools, plus the relevant GNU ones (mostly the C library and the compiler) and BSD contributions.
To say GNU/Linux is misleading. It may give GNU more coverage, but then logic dictates we should include tribute to the BSD people, the X people, and the many other contributors. To give a similar example, when the HURD is finally ready, are they willing to call it HURD/Mach, considering it is built on the free Mach microkernel from CMU?
I respect the fact that RMS made the first full-blown effort to create a fully working free Unix-type system. His contributions live on in Linux, and the "GNU inside" branding is not a bad idea at all. But his insistence on the "GNU/Linux" name is contradictory to common-sense.
As for the binary driver issue, to be honest, before I downloaded it I couldn't care less, as long as it worked. Despite what others have said here, hardware-wise, there's nothing to touch the Live! at this price point, at least from a musician's point of view. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts (involving lots of
Sure, it's only a beta. But if they can't get a 2.2.5 driver to work on a 2.2.7 kernel, this doesn't bode well for the future - personally, I don't like the idea of having to hold on to an insecure kernel just so my soundcard works. There were 36 patches of the 2.0.x series...you do the maths
In the end, though, I'll reserve judgement for the finished product. At least I have clean MP3 playback under Linux now...one step closer to trashing that Windows partition*sigh*
I keep getting a "Connection refused - the server may be down" etc. message from Netscape. Could someone who downloaded it put it up somewhere? I've been hanging out for this for so long - now I can finally test my project (a virtual drum machine) on my better sound card...