GPL 3

Richard Stallman is releasing the initial draft of the GPL (GPL 3) on Monday. After much discussion there will be two more draft releases before the finial release. I am sure this license is going to much more contentious than the last release in 1991 -> largely thanx to the adaption of the Linux operating system. I really refuse to consistently call Linux by Richard's chosen name - GNU/Linux. Why? Because it's apparent that Richard after years of calling Linux just Linux - he really didn't like the attention that Linus was getting. So in effort to reinsert GNU into the equation, he started using the term GNU/Linux. Had he done this from the beginning of the introduction of the kernel, I would be more sympathetic.

It's also apparent Richard while a top notch progammer in his day, belittles the amount of effort it takes to make a working kernel. The fact that in 2006, the Hurd still isn't ready for production use after something like 20 years of development. Belittling someone's work on a very difficult problem is a clear sign of jealousy. Richard is constantly saying things like "It's just the kernel." If making kernels were so easy, Hurd would have been finished long ago.

In fact Richard occasionally still lapses in calling Linux, Linux.

"The GNU Hurd is not ready for production use. Fortunately, another kernel is available. In 1991, Linus Torvalds developed a Unix-compatible kernel and called it Linux. Around 1992, combining Linux with the not-quite-complete GNU system resulted in a complete free operating system. (Combining them was a substantial job in itself, of course.) It is due to Linux that we can actually run a version of the GNU system today.

We call this system version GNU/Linux, to express its composition as a combination of the GNU system with Linux as the kernel.

I recogonize that without the FSF and Richard Stallman, there is no free software. Richard through the GPL has created an entire software ecosystem. I just wish he wouldn't be so crappy about it sometimes. I call Linux Linux, I call BSD BSD and don't feel the need to insert GNU into it.

I do recoginize this - Stallman & the GPL made Linux possible. Without Stallman there is no free software architecture or intellectual basis. With all the tools that the FSF provided, it was only a matter of time before someone would have developed a workable kernel. In that regard, had Linus been killed by a group of angry penguins in 1990, someone would have eventually stepped up and filled his shoes. It might have taken another 5 - 10 years but it would have happened.

Look for the analysis of latest version of the GPL on this blog as SOON as it's released.

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