Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 12:36:00 +0200 From: "Christoph P. Kukulies" <kuku@gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de> To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: GNU Debian and Hurd Message-ID: <199604301036.MAA03780@gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de>
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Sinces I've been asked more than once, here goes: --Chris Christoph P. U. Kukulies kuku@gil.physik.rwth-aachen.de >From gnu@ai.mit.edu Tue Apr 30 04:00:43 1996 >Received: from acds (acds.physik.rwth-aachen.de [137.226.30.30]) by gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id EAA02579 for <kuku@gilberto.physik.rwth-aachen.de>; Tue, 30 Apr 1996 04:00:41 +0200 >Received: by acds; (5.57/1.1.8.2/29Nov94-0208PM) > id AA15168; Tue, 30 Apr 96 03:53:51 +0200 >Received: from life.ai.mit.edu by gnu-life.ai.mit.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12GNU) with SMTP id VAA03876 for <info-gnu-gnu-life@gnu-life.ai.mit.edu>; Mon, 29 Apr 1996 21:04:23 -0400 >Received: by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) id AA24912; Mon, 29 Apr 96 20:19:54 EDT >Received: from gnu-life.ai.mit.edu by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) for /usr/lib/sendmail -odq -oi -finfo-gnu-ownrr@prep.ai.mit.edu info-gnu-gnu-life@gnu-life.ai.mit.edu id AA24290; Mon, 29 Apr 96 20:10:24 EDT >Received: by gnu-life.ai.mit.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12GNU) id TAA03749; Mon, 29 Apr 1996 19:36:43 -0400 >Resent-Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 19:36:43 -0400 >Resent-Message-Id: <199604292336.TAA03749@gnu-life.ai.mit.edu> >Received: from albert.gnu.ai.mit.edu by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) for gnu id AA15358; Sun, 28 Apr 96 00:27:53 EDT >Received: from delasyd.gnu.ai.mit.edu by albert.gnu.ai.mit.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12GNU) with ESMTP id AAA21127 for <info-gnu@albert.gnu.ai.mit.edu>; Sun, 28 Apr 1996 00:27:48 -0400 >Received: by delasyd.gnu.ai.mit.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12GNU) id AAA00388; Sun, 28 Apr 1996 00:27:37 -0400 >Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1996 00:27:37 -0400 >Message-Id: <gnusenet199604280427.AAA00388@delasyd.gnu.ai.mit.edu> >From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu> >Sender: gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu >To: info-gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu >Subject: The FSF is no longer sponsoring Debian >Resent-From: info-gnu-request@prep.ai.mit.edu >Status: RO > > The FSF is no longer sponsoring Debian > > >Two years ago, the FSF decided we wanted to distribute a version of >the GNU system using the Linux kernel. The planned GNU kernel (the >Hurd) was not ready, and Linux was; people were starting to combine >Linux with the GNU system to make runnable complete systems, and these >were clearly useful. We wanted to get involved with supporting and >distributing such a system. > >We wanted an integrated system that was easy to install, not a >collection of sources that each user had to compile. We also wanted a >system that was not associated with any particular commercial company. >Ian Murdock had started to put together a such system, called Debian, >and he sought the FSF's sponsorship. He hoped that integrating Debian >would serve as preparation for integrating the GNU system, and he >hoped to be involved in that job. We agreed that the FSF would >sponsor Debian development, and for part of that time, one year, Ian >was on the FSF full-time paid staff. The FSF looked forward to >distributing Debian on a CD-ROM. > >We decided jointly to call the system "Debian GNU/Linux". Many people >think that name referred to the FSF's sponsorship--that it said that >Debian was the one "Linux system" chosen by the GNU project. Debian >*was* the one we had chosen, but that is not what the name meant. > >"GNU/Linux" is short for "Linux-based GNU system"; it means a >combination of Linux, which is a kernel, with (a variant of) the GNU >system. Most people call these combinations "Linux systems", in >effect identifying the whole system with the kernel. We would rather >make that distinction clear. We want people to be aware that these >complete systems are pretty much the same GNU system we've been >assembling for a decade. > >The GNU project set out in 1984 to develop a complete free Unix-like >system. We found some free components available (including X and >TeX), pushed for others to be made free (some BSD software), and wrote >the parts that were missing (these, strictly speaking, are the GNU >software), all so we could put them together to make a complete >system--the GNU system. > >Debian is not the only combination of Linux and GNU. Slackware is >also one. So are many commercial system distributions such as Red Hat >and Yggdrasil--they are all combinations of the Linux kernel and a >variant GNU system. We call all of them Linux-based GNU systems, and >we wish their distributors would, too. > >We originally hoped that Debian would be ready for a CD-ROM in early >1995. Like many software projects, Debian took much longer than >expected; it still isn't ready. A delay is not a disaster, but in the >mean time, a more serious problem has arisen. > >This March, Ian Murdock stepped down as leader of Debian development, >saying that he was too busy with school to do the job properly. The >people now working on Debian do not want the FSF as a sponsor. >They've said that the FSF can use Debian on an as-is basis, and can >make suggestions to them, but they have rejected any closer >relationship. > >The present developers have also changed the name of the project; they >now call Debian a "Linux system". It is still a combination of the >Linux kernel with a variant GNU system, but unlike Ian Murdock and the >FSF, they don't wish to affirm this in the name. > >These decisions imply that the FSF is no longer sponsoring Debian. > >It's not clear whether the FSF should still plan to distribute a >Debian CD. When Debian is ready, we can distribute it if we want to. >However, now that we are no longer a sponsor of Debian, this would >serve only part of the purpose that we originally hoped for. > >Meanwhile, the Hurd continues to advance; it now supports NFS, and its >developers use it regularly for its own development. They can even >debug Hurd servers with GDB while GDB uses those same servers to >access files. (For more info about the Hurd, see the unofficial Hurd >web page, http://www/cs/pdx.edu/~trent/gnu/hurd/index.html.) > >So we may yet distribute a version of Debian, or we may make our first >complete system distribution a Hurd-based GNU system. We haven't >decided yet. > > --------------------- End of forwarded Message ----------------
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