On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 12:25:25 +1000, "Shayne O'Connor"
> sorry to snip so much, but as i said ... who wants/needs to use
> GNU/Linux in everyday conversation and in general discussion. i
> only suggest that if you're getting some sort of wiki or web page
> that is going to be a primer in all things related to linux
> software, then gee
> - it's pretty damned easy just to write GNU/Linux.
Where are you going with this? I just wrote a long ass email about why
GNU-approved terminology is a stumbling block to adoption. The fact
that it's a subtle concept which is not immediately grasped was only
part of the picture. And ease of typing has nothing to do with it.
> seriously, if the concept of Free software is that hard to grasp,
> then i doubt anyone's going to have any luck with the stuff that
> *actually is confusing* - like getting a piece of software installed.
*I* had trouble with "GNU/Linux" and "Free Software," and I *wrote*
Specimen. A task which, in my experience, is almost as confusing as
installing software.
> it's got nothing to do with ideology, and everything to do with
> reality. GNU/Linux. Three letters and a backslash. The FSF is so much
> more than just a pain in the arse - as its name implies, it is a
> foundation on which *lots* of stuff has been built.
You've got it backwards. The reality is that the use of GNU/Linux pales
in comparison to Linux, and that's not changing. A further aspect of
this reality is the use of GNU/Linux is a stumbling block to adoption by
the "unwashed masses." A musician contemplating the use of Linux is not
going to expect freeaudiosoftware.org to have a damn thing to do with
it. Hell, even the Gnome home page says "Linux" instead of "GNU/Linux,"
and it's a fraggin' GNU project.
You think that, to some fuzzily defined extent, we should say
"GNU/Linux" because that's The Right Thing. This is ideological.
I think that, to an absolute extent, we should say "Linux" because
that's what the rest of the world says. This is realistic.
> when yr mate asks how you roll beats in future, shouldn't you just say
> "with a program called Specimen"?
These days, I say "I use an open source program called Specimen that I
wrote for Linux," and everybody understands me fine.
-Pete
Received on Fri Aug 26 20:15:05 2005
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