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Notes on GNU/Linux term "controversy". Please, take a look at my spanish wikipedia page. It has more up to date compilation of sources. Sources supporting the term GNU/Linux:

  • GNU/Linux usage in the IEEE Computer Society digital library
  • GNU/Linux usage in the ACM digital library
  • Improving the Quality of GNU/Linux Distributions
  • The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System <- Paper by Richard M. Stallman.
  • [1] Provides the broad concept of operating system: kernel mode software (Linux) plus user software: GNU C Library syscall wrapper and standard C library and stablisher of user space API and ABI, GNU Core Utilities, GNU Binutils. All of these are needed to be conformant with POSIX.
  • [2] Provides historical background on Linux and GNU.
  • What is GNU? Publication on the first issue of the Linux Journal 1994, a journal created in 1994 by the co-founder of Red Hat. Quote from the article:

    Q. Why is GNU relevant to Linux?: A. It is fair to say that without the GNU project, your Linux system would not be the usable, fairly complete environment that it is today. Essentially all your utilities are from the GNU project--the C compiler, make , awk, the shell, the editors, almost all of the utilities are the GNU versions.

  • The Debian distribution. Article from the first issue of the Linux Journal 1994.

    The Free Software Foundation plays an extremely important role in the future of Debian. By the simple fact that they will be distributing it, a message is sent to the world that Linux is not a commercial product and that it never should be, but that this does not mean that Linux will never be able to compete commercially. For those of you who disagree, I challenge you to rationalize the success of GNU Emacs and GCC, which are not commercial software but which have had quite an impact on the commercial market regardless of that fact.

  • Introduction to the GNU C Library. Article published in the 2nd issue of the Linux Journal 1994.

    The GNU C Library is more than a re-implementation of the Standard C Library; while it has all the features of the Standard C Library, it has far more interesting and useful features as well. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily a good idea to use all those features in your programs.[...]The linux C library is based almost completely on the GNU C library and will probably be merged with the GNU C library eventually. This does not imply that writing programs under linux requires or encourages writing non-portable programs. The -ansi switch for GCC enforces fairly strict ANSI compliance(1), and by default masks references to all the GNU extensions from the header files, so that you can be sure your program is completely portable. Section 1.3.4, Feature Test Macros, in the GNU C Library Reference Manual, explains how to choose which features you want included while using the GNU C Library.

    Today we know that the Linux C library has been converted into the GNU C Library. That is one of the reasons the Linux Journal was initially called Linux Journal and not GNU/Linux Journal. First was the Linux C Library based on the Minix library. And then it started to adopt the GNU C Library until being merged into the GNU C Library. Initially it was only Linux (or even Minix/Linux, then Linux). And later it became GNU/Linux.
  • What's GNU: Bash - The GNU Shell. Article published in the fourth issue of the Linux Journal 1994.

    POSIX is a name originally coined by Richard Stallman for a family of open system standards based on Unix. There are a number of aspects of Unix under consideration for standardization, from the basic system services at the system call and C library level to applications and tools to system administration and management. Each area of standardization is assigned to a working group in the 1003 series. The POSIX Shell and Tools standard has been developed by IEEE Working Group 1003.2 (POSIX.2). It concentrates on the command interpreter interface and utility programs commonly executed from the command line or by other programs. An initial version of the standard has been approved and published by the IEEE, and work is currently underway to update it. There are four primary areas of work in the 1003.2 standard [...] Bash is concerned with the aspects of the shell's behavior defined by POSIX.2. The shell command language has of course been standardized, including the basic flow control and program execution constructs, I/O redirection and pipelining, argument handling, variable expansion, and quoting. The special builtins, which must be implemented as part of the shell to provide the desired functionality, are specified as being part of the shell; examples of these are eval and export. Other utilities appear in the sections of POSIX.2 not devoted to the shell which are commonly (and in some cases must be) implemented as builtin commands, such as read and test. POSIX.2 also specifies aspects of the shell's interactive behavior as part of the UPE, including job control and command line editing. Interestingly enough, only vi-style line editing commands have been standardized; emacs editing commands were left out due to objections. While POSIX.2 includes much of what the shell has traditionally provided, some important things have been omitted as being "beyond its scope". There is, for instance, no mention of a difference between a login shell and any other interactive shell (since POSIX.2 does not specify a login program). No fixed startup files are defined, either�the standard does not mention .profile.

  • Overview Of The Debian GNU/Linux System. Article published on the sixth issue of the Linux Journal 1994.

    What is a distribution? A distribution is the organized compilation of the Linux kernel with all the other programs necessary to a complete operating system. All such compilations unclude the basic programs needed to runa minimal system; most include many extras, includng many full applications. Distributions also include the necessary programs to install themselves on your computer. As the GNU developers update the programs, you should be interested in acquiring and installing these new versions, since they very likely contain bug fixes, performance enhancements, and/or new features.

All the previous articles and quotes mean the following:

  1. GNU/Linux is a scientific, WP:COMMONNAME term like Aluminium sulfate. It is not like using Al2(SO4)3.
  2. Linux is like calling Aluminium or Sulfate to Aluminium Sulfate. Sulfate without Aluminium has incomplete meaning the same way Linux without GNU is incomplete.
  3. GNU/Linux is not a Point of View. Red Hat and other commercial vendors have imposed their naming scheme.

Maybe I would call for a WP:RM or WP:RfC:

  1. Move Linux to GNU/Linux.
  2. Redirect Linux to GNU/Linux.
  3. Edit the article to be less biased towards OSI/Linux Foundation terms.

Given previous proof of not being a POV nor controversial term nor a belief.

Other Wikipedia languages have the GNU/Linux article:

  1. ^ Tanenbaum, Andrew S.; Boss, Herbert (2015). Modern Operating Systems. Pearson. pp. 1–4. ISBN 9780133591620.
  2. ^ Moody, Glyn (2002). Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution. ISBN 978-0738206707.
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