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