Robert Millan wrote:
I don't think many people think the Hurd is an operating system in the sense that GNU is an operating system. People who say that the Hurd is an operating system are using the term 'operating system' the same way the BSD people were when they made uname -s print out the name of the 'operating system', meaning the name of the kernel.On Fri, Oct 25, 2002 at 03:36:02PM -0700, Thomas Bushnell, BSG wrote:Tom Hart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:The GNU project uses the term "operating system" to refer to the complete *usable* system, ie. GNU, GNU/Hurd, GNU/Linux, and "kernel" to refer to the kernel, ie. Linux, Hurd/Mach, Hurd/L4, etc., whereas the BSD people say "operating system == kernel".Yes. So what I'm saying is "Let's not add to the confusion.For what i can see, the confusion consists in that many people think the Hurd is an operating system whereas GNU is a collection of software that just happens to work well on Un*x.
So the issue isn't "people think the Hurd is an OS", the issue is "some people refer to all kernels or kernel-like projects as operating systems".
This is *not* a bug. It's a disagreement between HUMAN BEINGS over terminology. We don't say that other people are "buggy" if they disagree with us.Let's at least try and keep all the variants of the GNU system compatible in their use of terminology."GNU/Linux has a bug that makes it print the kernel name when asked for the operating system name.
The GNU project is free to say, "When we say 'operating system', we mean a complete usable system, including ...". Others are free to say 'operating system == kernel', and there is precendent for this use of terminology.
I think Thomas is quite right in saying that the GNU project should have a consistent definition of "operating system" that it uses in all GNU products.
Saying there is such a thing as "wrong terminology" means that there is a central authority mandating what "correct terminology" is. I am aware of no such authority (although those in Great Britain and the Commonwealth may look to the Oxford English Dictionary, and Americans to Merriam-Webster... I don't think either of them specialize in technical definitions, though!).That bug is particularly annoying because it cannot be fixed without causing major breakage. As a consequence, guname inherited wrong terminology to workaround the first bug.
This bug is specific to GNU/Linux. GNU prints "GNU", and GNU/FreeBSD, for example, will print "GNU/FreeBSD" in the OS name. Do you think the GNU system and the rest of its variants should be compatible with that bug or that misuse of terminology?
What is GNU/FreeBSD? http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#bsd -- _______________________________________________ / | / Tom Hart | | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | \ "rmTFM - Build consistent interfaces." | \_______________________________________________| _______________________________________________ Bug-hurd mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-hurd
