On Thu, 10 Mar 2005, Dave Carlson wrote: >> Has anyone considered that *GNU* wouldn't be much of anywhere without >> Linux? > > Yeah - GNU has. They were in the process of writing a kernel when Linux > came along: > > "The initial goal of a free Unix-like operating system has been > achieved. By the 1990s, we had either found or written all the major > components except one--the kernel. Then Linux, a free kernel, was > developed by Linus Torvalds." > > Were Linux not released - (IMO) in this alternate universe, kernel > hackers would eventually form around GNU or ast, and a free kernel would > be released. There is GNU Hurd, but I'm sure that project was slowed because of interest in getting the Linux kernel working well with GNU software. I notice that none of the GNU antagonists had a response to Torvald's own words on the topic when I posted them earlier today: Sadly, a kernel by itself gets you nowhere. To get a working system you need a shell, compilers, a library etc. ... Most of the tools used with linux are GNU software and are under the GNU copyleft. That was from his first release of Linux (0.01). Mike