• Carighan Maconar@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Also the memey “xxxx the year of Linux”. Because that’s been going on for 40+ years now. 😅 You use it, or you don’t. Your OS is a tool, not a belief system.

    • ogeist@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

      Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

      There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

    • LazaroFilm@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      True it’s a tool. Just like a car. We get attached to one way of working with that tool, but then advancements come and a different tool starts to look interesting. Think gas->electric windows/mac->Linux.

      • mark3748@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        That’s interesting, I remember reading a post to comp.os.minix about 32 years ago about a Finnish student who made his own OS. It was just a kernel that barely worked. Wish I’d known it was already dominant in the server space for over 8 years, could have gotten a head start!

        • DickFiasco@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          I hope that student’s project turned out ok, even if it’s not big and professional like GNU. Did he ever add support for non-AT hard disks?

      • Arrakis@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        So Linux has been dominating the server space since before it existed? Cool!

    • i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      According to the last magazine I checked about this, 1997 is actually going to be the year of Linux on the desktop.

      And this housing bubble is totally going to burst any day now, too.