this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Happy birthday 🎊🎉 GNU/Linux.

Today GNU/Linux is 32 years old.

It was thankfully released to the public on August 25th, 1991 by Linus Torvalds when he was only 21 years old student.

What a lovely journey 🤍

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[–] spiffeeroo@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Richard Stallman, the man behind GNU and FSF. He makes a distinction between free software and open source software.

Stallman is not a pragmatist. He quit his job as a professor at MIT because he felt they were forcing him to use proprietary software, which contradicted his ideals.

Linus still keeps Linux on GPLv2 because he disagrees with GPLv3+ and its anti-tivotization clauses. Companies that contribute code back to Linux is good enough for him. Linus has a more pragmatic view.