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+		     Linux and the GNU system
+
+The GNU project started 12 years ago with the goal of developing a
+complete free Unix-like operating system.  "Free" refers to freedom,
+not price; it means you are free to run, copy, distribute, study,
+change, and improve the software.
+
+A Unix-like system consists of many different programs.  We found some
+components already available as free software--for example, X Windows
+and TeX.  We obtained other components by helping to convince their
+developers to make them free--for example, the Berkeley network
+utilities.  Other components we wrote specifically for GNU--for
+example, GNU Emacs, the GNU C compiler, the GNU C library, Bash, and
+Ghostscript.  The components in this last category are "GNU software".
+The GNU system consists of all three categories together.
+
+The GNU project is not just about developing and distributing some
+useful free software.  The heart of the GNU project is an idea: that
+software should be free, and that the users' freedom is worth
+defending.  For if people have freedom but do not consciously
+appreciate it, they will not keep it for long.  If we want to make
+freedom last, we need to call people's attention to the freedoms they
+have in free software.
+
+The GNU project's method is that free software and the idea of users'
+freedom support each other.  We develop GNU software, and as people
+encounter GNU programs or the GNU system and start to use them, they
+also think about the GNU idea.  The software shows that the idea can
+work in practice.  Some of these people come to agree with the idea,
+and then they are more likely to write additional free software.
+Thus, the software embodies the idea, spreads the idea, and grows from
+the idea.
+
+By 1992, we had found or written all of the essential major components
+of the system except the kernel, which we were writing.  (This kernel
+consists of the Mach microkernel plus the GNU HURD.  Currently it is
+running but not ready for users.  The first test release was made in
+1996.)
+
+Then the Linux kernel became available.  Linux is a free
+Unix-compatible kernel initially written by Linus Torvalds.  It was
+not written for the GNU project, but Linux and the almost-complete GNU
+system made a useful combination.  This combination provided all the
+major essential components of a Unix-compatible operating system, and
+with some work, people made it into a usable system.  It was a variant
+GNU system, based on the Linux kernel.
+
+Ironically, the popularity of these systems undermines our method of
+communicating the GNU idea to people who use GNU.  These systems are
+mostly the same as the GNU system--the main difference being the
+choice of kernel.  But people usually call them "Linux systems".  At
+first impression, a "Linux system" sounds like something completely
+distinct from the "GNU system," and that is what most users think it
+is.
+
+Most introductions to the "Linux system" acknowledge the role played
+by the GNU software components.  But they don't say that the system as
+a whole is a modified version of the GNU system that the GNU project
+has been developing and compiling since 1984.  They don't say that the
+goal of a free Unix-like system like this one came from the GNU
+project.  So most users don't know these things.
+
+Since human beings tend to correct their first impressions less than
+subsequent information calls for, those users who later learn about
+the relationship between these systems and the GNU project still often
+underestimate it.
+
+This leads many users to identify themselves as a separate community
+of "Linux users", distinct from the GNU user community.  They use all
+of the GNU software; in fact, they use almost all of the GNU system;
+but they don't think of themselves as GNU users, and often they don't
+think that the GNU idea relates to them.
+
+It leads to other problems as well--even hampering cooperation on
+software maintenance.  Normally when users change a GNU program to
+make it work better on a particular system, they send the change to
+the maintainer of that program; then they work with the maintainer,
+explaining the change, arguing for it, and sometimes rewriting it for
+the sake of the overall coherence and maintainability of the package,
+to get the patch installed.
+
+But people who think of themselves as "Linux users" are more likely to
+release a forked "Linux-only" version of the GNU program, and consider
+the job done.  We want each and every GNU program to work "out of the
+box" on Linux-based systems; but if the users do not help, that goal
+becomes much harder to achieve.
+
+How should the GNU project deal with this problem?  What should we do
+now to spread the idea that freedom for computer users is important?
+
+We should continue to talk about the freedom to share and change
+software--and to teach other users to value these freedoms.  If we
+enjoy having a free operating system, it makes sense for us to think
+about preserving those freedoms for the long term.  If we enjoy having
+a variety of free software, it makes sense for to think about
+encouraging others to write additional free software, instead of
+additional proprietary software.
+
+We should not accept the idea of two separate communities for GNU and
+Linux.  Instead we should spread understanding that "Linux systems"
+are variants of the GNU system, and that the users of these systems
+are GNU users as well as Linux users (users of the Linux kernel).
+Users who know this will naturally tend to take a look at the GNU
+philosophy which brought these systems into existence.
+
+I've written this article as one way of doing that.  Another way is to
+use the terms "Linux-based GNU system" or "GNU/Linux system", instead
+of "Linux system," when you write about or mention such a system.
+
+
+Copyright 1996 Richard Stallman
+Verbatim copying and redistribution is permitted
+without royalty as long as this notice is preserved.
+