GNU — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Free software collection}} {{About|the free software collection|the animal|Wildebeest|other uses}} {{Distinguish|XNU}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Use American English|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox OS | name = GNU | logo = Heckert GNU white.svg | logo size = 100px | logo alt = The GNU head | screenshot = Gnu hurd debian 1.png | caption = Debian GNU/Hurd with Xfce4 and web browser Midori | family = Unix-like | developer = Community | source model = Free software | marketing target = Personal computers, mobile devices, embedded devices, servers, mainframes, supercomputers | language =  | userland = GNU | kernel_type = Microkernel (GNU Hurd) or Monolithic kernel (GNU Linux-libre, fork of Linux) | license = GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, GNU AGPL, GNU FDL, GNU FSDG<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gnu.org/licenses/ |title = GNU Licenses}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html |title = GNU FSDG}}</ref> | programmed in = Various languages (notably C and assembly language) | working_state = Current | supported_platforms = Alpha, ARC, ARM, AVR32, Blackfin, C6x, ETRAX CRIS, FR-V, H8/300, IA-32/x86-64, Hexagon, Itanium, M32R, m68k, META, MicroBlaze, MIPS, MN103, OpenRISC, PA-RISC, PowerPC, s390/s390x, S+core, SuperH, SPARC, TILE64, Unicore32, Xtensa, RISC-V  (with Linux-libre kernel only) }}

'''GNU''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-gnu.ogg|ɡ|n|uː}} {{respell|GNOO}})<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gnu.org/ |title = What is GNU? |work = The GNU Operating System | date = September 4, 2009 | publisher = Free Software Foundation |access-date=October 9, 2009 | quote =The name ‘GNU’ is a recursive acronym for ‘GNU's Not Unix‘; it is pronounced ''g-noo'', as one syllable with no vowel sound between the ''g'' and the ''n''.}}</ref><ref name="rms-zagreb-talk" /> is an extensive collection of free software (387 packages {{As of|2025|June|lc=y}}),<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html | title = Software – GNU Project | last = Stallman | first = Richard | website = GNU Project | access-date = 2022-01-09 | publisher=Free Software Foundation, Inc }}</ref> which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems.<ref name="handbookonopensource" /><ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html | title = GNU Manifesto |publisher = FSF | work = GNU project |access-date= 2011-07-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url= https://archive.org/details/cathedralbaz00raym | url-access= registration | title = The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary | publisher= O'Reilly Media, Inc. | pages = [https://archive.org/details/cathedralbaz00raym/page/10 10]–12 | isbn= 978-0-59600108-7 | last = Raymond | first =Eric | date = 2001-02-01}}</ref> Most of GNU is licensed under the GNU Project's own General Public License (GPL).

[[File:Richard Stallman - Fête de l'Humanité 2014 - 010.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Richard Stallman|Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU project]]

GNU is also the project within which the free software concept originated. Richard Stallman, the founder of the project, views GNU as a "technical means to a social end".<ref>{{Citation | contribution = KTH | publisher = FSF | title = Philosophy | series = GNU | contribution-url = https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/stallman-kth.html | first = Richard | last = Stallman | type = speech | place = Stockholm, Sweden | year = 1986}}.</ref> Relatedly, Lawrence Lessig states in his introduction to the second edition of Stallman's book ''Free Software, Free Society'' that in it Stallman has written about "the social aspects of software and how Free Software can create community and social justice".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.openisbn.com/isbn/9781441436856/|title=Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays Of Richard M. Stallman|isbn=9781441436856|access-date=2016-03-24|last1=Stallman|first1=Richard M.|last2=Gay|first2=Joshua|date=December 2009|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref>

== Name == ''GNU'' is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix!",<ref name = "handbookonopensource" /><ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.thefreedictionary.com/GNU%27s+Not+Unix |title=GNU's Not Unix | publisher =The free dictionary | access-date = 2012-09-22}}</ref> chosen because GNU's design is Unix-like, but differs from Unix by being free software and containing no Unix code.<ref name="handbookonopensource">{{cite book|last1=St. Amant|first1=Kirk|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKHuvgEACAAJ|title=Handbook of Research on Open Source Software: Technological, Economic, and Social Perspectives|last2=Still|first2=Brian|year=2007|publisher=Information Science Reference |isbn=978-1-59140999-1|oclc=1028442948}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher = FSF | work = GNU project | url = https://www.gnu.org/ | title = The GNU Operating system | access-date = 2008-08-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Marshall |first = Rosalie | place = AU | url = https://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/128513,qa-richard-stallman-founder-of-the-gnu-project-and-the-free-software-foundation.aspx |title = Q&A: Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation | publisher = PC & Tech Authority |date = 2008-11-17 |access-date = 2012-09-22}}</ref> Stallman chose the name by using various plays on words, including the song "The Gnu".<ref name="rms-zagreb-talk">{{cite AV media |url=https://mjesec.ffzg.hr/~dpavlin/stallman2006/free_software_movement_and_the_future_of_freedom_zagreb_09_march_2006.ogg |title=The Free Software Movement and the Future of Freedom |first=Richard |last=Stallman |author-link=Richard Stallman |publisher=Free Software Foundation Europe |location=Zagreb, Croatia|date=March 9, 2006 |access-date=February 20, 2007}}</ref>{{rp|at=45:30|}}

== History == Before the 1980s there existed a widespread practice of sharing software in ways similar to what is now considered free software where the participants are free to share copies of the software. Richard Stallman was a part of a group of developers at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory working on the Incompatible Timesharing System, an operating system which was effectively developed as what is now seen as free software.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Untitled Document |url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/2000-01/open-source/gnu.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712175533/https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/2000-01/open-source/gnu.htm |archive-date=2019-07-12 |access-date=2026-05-10 |website=cs.stanford.edu}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Free Software: Freedom and Cooperation |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/rms-nyu-2001-transcript.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225192953/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/rms-nyu-2001-transcript.txt |archive-date=2015-12-25 |access-date=2026-05-10 |website=www.gnu.org}}</ref> This community soon fell to ruin however as the PDP-10 platform which the operating system was developed for was discontinued. According to Stallman, what prompted him to start the GNU Project was having previously had an experience with Xerox refusing to give him access to the source code of a laser printer used at the MIT Lab, now with the realization that this community of sharing software would end and noticing the advancing spread of proprietary software which had undone the culture of sharing software that had previously existed, Richard Stallman refused to adapt by continuing with proprietary software, and he instead decided that with this skills as an operating systems programmer,<ref name=":1" /> he would begin the development of a new free software operating system and to recreate a community of sharing software that was lost, called GNU.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Development of the GNU software was initiated by Richard Stallman while he worked at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. It was called the GNU Project, and was publicly announced on September 27, 1983, on the net.unix-wizards and net.usoft newsgroups by Stallman.<ref>{{cite newsgroup |title=new UNIX implementation |first=Richard |last=Stallman |date=September 27, 1983 |newsgroup=net.unix-wizards |message-id=771@mit-eddie.UUCP |url=https://groups.google.com/group/net.unix-wizards/msg/4dadd63a976019d7 |access-date=August 18, 2008 }}</ref> Software development began on January 5, 1984, when Stallman quit his job at the Lab so that they could not claim ownership or interfere with distributing GNU components as free software.<ref name="intervention">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXC6H8lRjlUC |title=Inter/vention: Free Play in the Age of Electracy |first1=Jan Rune |last1=Holmevik |first2=Ian |last2=Bogost |first3=Gregory |last3=Ulmer |publisher=MIT Press |date=March 2012 |isbn=978-0-262-01705-3|pages=69–71}}</ref>

The goal was to bring a completely free software operating system into existence. Stallman wanted computer users to be free to study the source code of the software they use, share software with other people, modify the behavior of software, and publish their modified versions of the software. This philosophy was published as the GNU Manifesto in March 1985.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.math.utah.edu/ftp/pub/tex/bib/toc/dr-dobbs-1980.html#10(3):March:1985 |journal=Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools |title=The {GNU} Manifesto |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=30 |date=March 1985 |first=Richard |last=Stallman |author-link = Richard Stallman |access-date=2011-10-18}}</ref>

Richard Stallman's experience with the Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS),<ref name="intervention" /> an early operating system written in assembly language that became obsolete due to discontinuation of PDP-10, the computer architecture for which ITS was written, led to a decision that a portable system was necessary.<ref name="rms-zagreb-talk" />{{rp|at=40:52|}}<ref name="opensource2.0">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/opensources2.000diborich |title=Open Sources 2.0: The Continuing Evolution |publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc. |first1=Chris |last1=DiBona |first2=Mark |last2=Stone |first3=Danese |last3=Cooper |date=October 2005 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/opensources2.000diborich/page/n79 38]–40 |isbn=9780596008024}}</ref> It was thus decided that the development would be started using C and Lisp as system programming languages,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://laurel.datsi.fi.upm.es/~ssoo/IG/download/timeline.html|title=Timeline of GNU/Linux and Unix|quote=Both C and Lisp will be available as system programming languages.}}</ref> and that GNU would be compatible with Unix.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=53zaxy423xcC|title=Beginning Portable Shell Scripting: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Open Source)|date=November 2008|pages=177–178 |isbn=9781430210436 |last1=Seebach |first1=Peter|publisher=Apress }}</ref> At the time, Unix was already a popular proprietary operating system. The design of Unix was modular, so it could be reimplemented piece by piece.<ref name="opensource2.0" />

Much of the needed software had to be written from scratch, but existing compatible third-party free software components were also used such as the TeX typesetting system, the X Window System, and the Mach microkernel that forms the basis of the GNU Mach core of GNU Hurd (the official kernel of GNU).<ref name="linuxinterface">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ps2SH727eCIC|title=The Linux Programming Interface: A Linux and UNIX System Programming Handbook|pages=5–6|date=October 2010 |isbn=9781593272203 |last1=Kerrisk |first1=Michael|publisher=No Starch Press }}</ref> With the exception of the aforementioned third-party components, most of GNU has been written by volunteers; some in their spare time, some paid by companies,<ref name="cygnus">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781565925823 |title=Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution |publisher=O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. |date=January 1999 |isbn=978-1-56592-582-3 }}</ref> educational institutions, and other non-profit organizations. In October 1985, Stallman set up the Free Software Foundation (FSF). In the late 1980s and 1990s, the FSF hired software developers to write the software needed for GNU.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LlCnYt2snHYC |title=The Software Industry | pages=187–196 |isbn=9783642315091 |last1=Buxmann |first1=Peter |last2=Diefenbach |first2=Heiner |last3=Hess |first3=Thomas |date=2012-09-30|publisher=Springer }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50maN7VmpusC | title=Practical UNIX and Internet Security, 3rd Edition | publisher=O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. |date=February 2003 | page=18 |isbn=9781449310127}}</ref>

As GNU gained prominence, interested businesses began contributing to development or selling GNU software and technical support. The most prominent and successful of these was Cygnus Solutions,<ref name="cygnus" /> now part of Red Hat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-232971.html|title=Red Hat buys software firm, shuffles CEO|author=Stephen Shankland|date=15 November 1999|publisher=CBS Interactive|work=CNET|access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>

== Components == {{Main|List of GNU packages}}

The system's basic components include the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), the GNU C library (glibc), and GNU Core Utilities (coreutils),<ref name="handbookonopensource" /> but also the GNU Debugger (GDB), GNU Binary Utilities (binutils),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://developer.amd.com/tools-and-sdks/archive/gcc-and-gnu-toolchains-for-amd-platforms/ |title=GCC & GNU Toolchains – AMD |publisher=Developer.amd.com |access-date=2015-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316191013/https://developer.amd.com/tools-and-sdks/archive/gcc-and-gnu-toolchains-for-amd-platforms/ |archive-date=2015-03-16 }}</ref> and the GNU Bash shell.<ref name="linuxinterface" /><ref>{{cite book| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvuzDziOMeMC|title=Beginning Linux Programming|chapter=The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation| isbn=9781118058619| last1=Matthew| first1=Neil| last2=Stones| first2=Richard| date=2011-04-22|publisher=John Wiley & Sons }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MhTb9X4aYgC|title=Emerging Free and Open Source Software Practices|pages=262–264|date=May 2007| isbn=9781599042107| last1=Sowe| first1=Sulayman K| last2=Stamelos| first2=Ioannis G| last3=Samoladas| first3=Ioannis M|publisher=Idea Group Inc (IGI) }}</ref> GNU developers have contributed to Linux ports of GNU applications and utilities, which are now also widely used on other operating systems such as BSD variants, Solaris and macOS.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzle.com/articles/linux-history-and-introduction.html |title=Linux: History and Introduction |publisher=Buzzle.com |date=1991-08-25 |access-date=2012-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211040818/https://www.buzzle.com/articles/linux-history-and-introduction.html |archive-date=2017-12-11 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2018}}

Many GNU programs have been ported to other operating systems, including proprietary platforms such as Microsoft Windows<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SM3PEH9gagC|title=Integrating Linux and Windows|page=30|date=December 2000| isbn=9780130306708| last1=McCune| first1=Mike|publisher=Prentice Hall Professional }}</ref> and macOS.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9K8KEQic5sC|title=A Practical Guide To Unix For Mac Os X Users|page=4|year=2005| isbn=9780131863330| last1=Sobell| first1=Mark G| last2=Seebach| first2=Peter|publisher=Prentice Hall Professional }}</ref> GNU programs have been shown to be more reliable than their proprietary Unix counterparts.<ref>[https://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/pub/paradyn/technical_papers/fuzz-revisited.ps Fuzz Revisited: A Re-examination of the Reliability of UNIX Utilities and Services] – October 1995 – Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~blbowers/fuzz-2001.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222035742/http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~blbowers/fuzz-2001.pdf |archive-date=2009-12-22 |url-status=live|title=An Inquiry into the Stability and Reliability of UNIX Utilities}}</ref>

{{As of|2024|June}}, there are a total of 467 GNU packages (including decommissioned, 394 excluding) hosted on the official GNU development site.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html |title=Software – GNU Project|publisher=Free Software Foundation, Inc |date=2016-01-13 |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref>

==GNU as an operating system== {{Main|GNU variants}}

=== Hurd === The original kernel of GNU Project is the GNU Hurd (together with the GNU Mach microkernel), which was the original focus of the Free Software Foundation (FSF).<ref name="handbookonopensource" /><ref name="computerworld">Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. "[https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9131178/Opinion_The_top_10_operating_system_stinkers Opinion: The top 10 operating system stinkers]", ''Computerworld'', April 9, 2009: "... after more than 25 years in development, GNU remains incomplete: its kernel, Hurd, has never really made it out of the starting blocks. ... Almost no one has actually been able to use the OS; it's really more a set of ideas than an operating system."</ref><ref name="Hillesley">{{Citation | last = Hillesley | first = Richard | newspaper = The H | url = https://www.h-online.com/open/features/GNU-HURD-Altered-visions-and-lost-promise-1030942.html | edition = online | title = GNU HURD: Altered visions and lost promise | date = June 30, 2010 | page = [https://www.h-online.com/open/features/GNU-HURD-Altered-visions-and-lost-promise-1030942.html?page=3 3] | quote = Nearly twenty years later the HURD has still to reach maturity, and has never achieved production quality. ... Some of us are still wishing and hoping for the real deal, a GNU operating system with a GNU kernel.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lessig |first1=Lawrence |title=The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World |date=2001 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-375-50578-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/futureo_les_2001_00_1645|url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/futureo_les_2001_00_1645/page/54 54] |quote=He had mixed all of the ingredients needed for an operating system to function, but he was missing the core.}}</ref> With the April 30, 2015 release of the Debian GNU/Hurd 2015 distro,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Debian-GNU-Hurd-2015|title=Debian GNU/Hurd 2015 Released – Phoronix|website=www.phoronix.com|access-date=2016-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lists.debian.org/debian-hurd/2015/04/msg00047.html|title=Debian GNU/Hurd 2015 released!|website=lists.debian.org|access-date=2016-03-24}}</ref> GNU now provides all required components to assemble an operating system that users can install and use on a computer.<ref name="status">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd/status.html|title=status|website=www.gnu.org|access-date=2016-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/|title=Debian – Debian GNU/Hurd|website=www.debian.org|access-date=2016-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-install|title=Debian – Debian GNU/Hurd – Configuration|website=www.debian.org|access-date=2016-03-24}}</ref> However, the Hurd kernel is not yet considered production-ready but rather a base for further development and non-critical application usage.<ref>{{Citation | url=https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd/status.html | publisher = Free Software Foundation | title = Status | access-date = 2017-04-24 | date = 2015-05-03}}</ref><ref name="status" />

=== Linux === [[File:Parabola12.png|thumb|Parabola GNU/Linux-libre, an example of an FSF approved distribution that uses a rolling release model]][[File:Trisquel 11.0.png|thumb|Trisquel, an example of an FSF approved distribution]]

Because of the development status of Hurd, GNU is usually paired with other kernels such as Linux<ref>{{Citation | chapter-url = https://oreilly.com/openbook/debian/book/ch01_02.html |title= Debian open book | chapter = 1.2 What is Linux? |publisher = O'Reilly |date=1991-10-05 |access-date = 2012-09-22}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | edition = 12.4 | contribution-url = https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/installation-guide/armhf/ch01s03.html | contribution = What is GNU/Linux? | publisher = Canonical | title = Ubuntu Installation Guide | access-date = 2015-06-22 | archive-date = June 21, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150621214422/https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/installation-guide/armhf/ch01s03.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> or FreeBSD.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHkHNChvPqIC |title=Open Source Software: Implementation and Management| page = 129| isbn= 978-1-55558320-0| last1 = Kavanagh | first1 = Paul| date = 2004-07-26|publisher=Elsevier }}</ref> A stable version (or variant) of GNU can be run by combining the GNU packages with the Linux kernel, making a functional Unix-like system. The GNU Project calls this GNU/Linux, and the defining features are the combination of:

* GNU packages<ref name="gnu_packages">{{cite web | url=https://www.gnu.org/software/software.html#allgnupkgs | title = All GNU packages | access-date = 2014-04-18 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225191933/http://www.gnu.org/software/software.html#allgnupkgs|archive-date=2015-12-25|work=gnu.org}}</ref><ref name="gnu_packages_fsf">[http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU GNU @ Free Software Directory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205084519/http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU|date=2015-12-05}} (fsf.org)</ref> (except for GNU Hurd) The GNU packages consist of numerous operating system tools and utilities (shell, coreutils, compilers, libraries, etc.)<ref name="gnu_packages" /><ref name="gnu_packages_fsf" /> including a library implementation of all of the functions specified in POSIX System Application Program Interface (POSIX.1).<ref>{{Cite web |title=POSIX – The GNU C Library|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/POSIX.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424011018/http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/POSIX.html|archive-date=2014-04-24|access-date=2014-04-18}}</ref><ref>GNU_C_Library#A_temporary_fork</ref> The GCC compiler can generate machine-code for a large variety of computer-architectures.<ref>GCC Architectures</ref> * Linux kernel – this implements program scheduling, multitasking, device drivers, memory management, etc. and allows the system to run on a large variety of computer-architectures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Linux Kernel Archives|url=https://www.kernel.org/#whatislinux|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221140221/http://www.kernel.org/#whatislinux|archive-date=2011-02-21|access-date=2016-07-25}}</ref> Linus Torvalds released the Linux kernel under the GNU General Public License in 1992;<ref name="linux_free">{{Cite web |url=http://ftp.funet.fi/pub/linux/historical/kernel/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.12 |title=Release Notes for Linux v0.12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526191714/http://ftp.funet.fi/pub/linux/historical/kernel/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.12|archive-date=2013-05-26|access-date=2012-12-24}}</ref> it is however not part of the GNU Project.<ref>[https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#allgpled Should the GNU/name convention be applied to all programs that are GPL'ed?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907132420/http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#allgpled|date=2013-09-07}} GNU/Linux FAQ by Richard Stallman</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#whyslash Why do you write "GNU/Linux" instead of "GNU Linux"?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907132420/http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#whyslash|date=2013-09-07}} GNU/Linux FAQ by Richard Stallman</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#claimlinux Isn't it wrong for us to label Linus Torvalds' work as GNU?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907132420/http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#claimlinux|date=2013-09-07}} GNU/Linux FAQ by Richard Stallman</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#linusagreed Does Linus Torvalds agree that Linux is just the kernel?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907132420/http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#linusagreed|date=2013-09-07}} GNU/Linux FAQ by Richard Stallman</ref> * non-GNU programs – various free software packages which are not a part of the GNU Project but are released under the GNU General Public License or another FSF-approved Free Software License.

Within the GNU website, a list of projects is laid out and each project has specifics for what type of developer is able to perform the task needed for a certain piece of the GNU Project. The skill level ranges from project to project but anyone with background knowledge in programming is encouraged to support the project.

The packaging of GNU tools, together with the Linux kernel and other programs, is usually called a Linux distribution (distro). The GNU Project calls the combination of GNU and the Linux kernel "GNU/Linux", and asks others to do the same,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why do you call it GNU/Linux and not Linux?|url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#why|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907132420/http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#why|archive-date=2013-09-07|access-date=2014-04-18}}</ref> resulting in the GNU/Linux naming controversy.

Most Linux distros combine GNU packages with a Linux kernel which contains proprietary binary blobs.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |title=Explaining Why We Don't Endorse Other Systems|url=https://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424061731/http://www.gnu.org/distros/common-distros.html|archive-date=2011-04-24|access-date=2016-07-22|work=GNU}}</ref>

In 2012, a fork of the Linux kernel became officially part of the GNU Project in the form of Linux-libre, a variant of Linux with all proprietary components removed.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU_Linux-libre |title = GNU Linux-libre | date = 2012-12-17 | access-date = 2013-02-09}}</ref> The GNU Project has endorsed Linux-libre distributions, such as Trisquel, Parabola GNU/Linux-libre, PureOS and GNU Guix System.<ref>{{Citation | contribution-url = https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html | contribution = List of Free GNU/Linux Distributions | title = GNU Project | publisher = Free Software Foundation (FSF)}}.</ref>

== GNU/Linux naming controversy == {{Main|GNU/Linux naming controversy}} Whether the combination of GNU libraries with external kernels is a GNU operating system with a kernel (e.g. GNU with Linux), because the GNU collection renders the kernel into a usable operating system as understood in modern software development, or whether the kernel is an operating system unto itself with a GNU layer on top (i.e. Linux with GNU), because the kernel can operate a machine without GNU, is a matter of ongoing debate. The FSF maintains that an operating system built using the Linux kernel and GNU tools and utilities should be considered a variant of GNU, and promotes the term ''GNU/Linux'' for such systems (leading to the GNU/Linux naming controversy). This view is not exclusive to the FSF.<ref>{{cite newsgroup | url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.misc/msg/1241a2919efc4bc3 | title = Linux is a GNU system and the DWARF support | newsgroup = comp.os.linux.misc | date = 8 September 1994 | first = Matt | last = Welsh | access-date = 3 February 2008 | quote = RMS's idea (which I have heard first-hand) is that Linux systems should be considered GNU systems with Linux as the kernel.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Proffitt |first = Brian |url=https://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/285750/debian-gnulinux-seeks-alignment-free-software-foundation | title =Debian GNU/Linux seeks alignment with Free Software Foundation | work =ITworld | date =2012-07-12 |access-date= 2012-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715071950/https://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/285750/debian-gnulinux-seeks-alignment-free-software-foundation|archive-date=15 Jul 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.tldp.org/LDP/sag/html/gnu-or-not.html |title= 1.1. Linux or GNU/Linux, that is the question | work = SAG | publisher= TLDP | access-date = 2012-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051230200658/https://www.tldp.org/LDP/sag/html/gnu-or-not.html|archive-date=30 Dec 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ccm.net/faq/478-gnu-operating-system|title=GNU Operating System – CCM FAQ|website=CCM|language=en|access-date=2018-04-08|quote=GNU is an operating system that offers a set of free open source programs.|archive-date=December 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215074114/https://ccm.net/faq/478-gnu-operating-system|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.snom.com/footer/source-code-gpl-open-source/|title=Source Code & GPL Open Source|last=Snom Technology|website=www.snom.com|language=en|access-date=2018-04-08|quote=Variants of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as "Linux", they are more accurately called "GNU/Linux systems".|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409044219/https://www.snom.com/footer/source-code-gpl-open-source/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Notably, Debian, one of the biggest and oldest Linux distributions, refers to itself as ''Debian GNU/Linux''.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/basic-defs.en.html#whatisdebian| title = Chapter 1. Definitions and overview}}</ref>

== Logo == thumb|The original GNU logo, drawn by Etienne Suvasa|120px The logo for GNU is a gnu head. Originally drawn by Etienne Suvasa, a bolder and simpler version designed by Aurelio Heckert is now preferred.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/graphics/agnuhead.html |title=A GNU Head |publisher= Free Software Foundation (FSF)|date=2011-07-13 |access-date=2011-07-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/graphics/heckert_gnu.html |title=A Bold GNU Head |publisher=Free Software Foundation|date=2011-07-13 |access-date=2011-07-27}}</ref> It appears in GNU software and in printed and electronic documentation for the GNU Project, and is also used in Free Software Foundation materials.

thumb|30th anniversary logo|120px|left There was also a modified version of the official logo. It was created by the Free Software Foundation in September 2013 in order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the GNU Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu30/ |title=GNU 30th Anniversary |publisher=Free Software Foundation|date=2013-10-08 |access-date=2014-12-15}}</ref> {{clear}}

== See also == {{Portal|Free and open-source software}}  * Free software movement * History of free and open-source software * List of computing mascots * :Category:Computing mascots

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== External links == {{Commons}} {{wikt|GNU}}

* {{Official website}} * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001025040323/http://prep.ai.mit.edu |title=The GNU Project web server, prep.ai.mit.edu}} * [https://unxutils.sf.net unxutils.sourceforge.net, Ports of GNU utilities] for Microsoft Windows * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629022841/https://www.verbumvanum.org/pesalus/ |title=www.verbumvanum.org/pesalus, The daemon, the GNU and the penguin}}

Category:Free software operating systems Category:GNU Project Category:Mach (kernel) Category:Microkernel-based operating systems Category:Unix variants Category:Computing acronyms