2006-09-03 00:24:25 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
GNU (pronounced /gnu/ (help·info)) is a free operating system consisting of a kernel, libraries, system utilities, compilers, and end-user applications. Its name is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix", which was chosen because its design is Unix-like, but differs from Unix by being free software and by not containing any UNIX code. The plan for the GNU operating system was announced in September 1983 by Richard Stallman and software development work began in January 1984. As of 2006, GNU is still in active development. The project to develop GNU is known as the GNU Project, and programs released under the auspices of the GNU Project are called GNU packages or GNU programs.
The system's basic components include the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), the GNU Binary Utilities (binutils), the bash shell, the GNU C library (glibc), and coreutils. GNU uses the third-party packages X.Org and TeX for the foundation of its graphical user interface and its typesetting system, respectively. Not all GNU software works yet with the GNU Hurd kernel.
As of 2006, a complete GNU system has not been released. The official kernel of GNU is Hurd. However, Hurd is not yet finished so most GNU users use the third-party Linux kernel. While Linux has not been officially adopted as the kernel of GNU, GNU does officially include other third party software such as the Xorg windowing system and the TeX typesetting system. Versions of GNU using the Linux kernel are often called Linux, after the kernel. The GNU project asks people to call these systems "GNU/Linux." See GNU/Linux naming controversy.
Many GNU programs have also been ported to numerous other operating systems such as Windows, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS.
The GNU General Public License (GPL), the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) were written for GNU, but are also used by many unrelated projects.
2006-09-03 00:29:06 · answer #1 · answered by Smokey 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The GNU project was announced publicly on September 27, 1983, on the net.unix-wizards [1] and net.usoft newsgroups. Software development began on January 5, 1984, when Stallman quit his job at Massachusetts Institute of Technology so that they could not claim ownership or interfere with distributing GNU as free software. The correct pronunciation of GNU is g'noo (IPA: /gnu/), with a hard "g", to distinguish it from the word new. According to Stallman, the name was inspired by various plays on words, including the song The Gnu.
The goal was to bring a wholly free software operating system into existence. Stallman wanted computer users to be free, as most were in the 1960s and 1970s; free to study the source code of the software they use, free to modify the behaviour of the software, and free to publish their modified versions of the software. This philosophy was published in March 1985 as the GNU Manifesto.
The majority of the software needed had to be written from scratch, but when compatible free software components already existed, they were used. Two examples were the TeX typesetting system, and the X Window System. Most of GNU has been written by volunteers; some in their spare time, some paid by other companies. In October 1985, Stallman set up the Free Software Foundation (FSF). In the mid- and late-80s, FSF hired software developers to write the software needed for GNU. At its peak it had 15 people on its staff. FSF also holds the copyrights for some GNU software packages. Most GNU packages are licensed under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), while a few use the GNU Lesser General Public License (GNU LGPL), and a still smaller amount use other free software licenses.
So that it would be convenient for people to switch to GNU, it was decided that GNU would be mostly compatible with Unix, which was a popular proprietary operating system at the time. The design of Unix had proven to be solid, and it was modular, so it could be reimplemented piece by piece.
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, now part of Red Hat.
2006-09-03 07:31:00 · answer #2 · answered by Crabby 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gnu's Not Unix
something like that.
2006-09-03 07:26:22 · answer #3 · answered by JAMES T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah that's it, Gnu's Not Unix.
2006-09-03 07:27:08 · answer #4 · answered by Dragosh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gnu's Not Unix.
And, it isn't, but, it does all the same things!
Runs all microsoft.com, MSN.com, Hotmail.com and google.com computers!
http://pclinuxos.com includes 1900 games, apps. FREE!!!
2006-09-03 07:29:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋