[nzlug] RMS Itinerary Update

[Bruce Kingsbury]

>
> I still think that the lack of general familiarity with GNU and
> unwillingness to say "GNU/Linux" is evidence of a marketing failure;
> that hammering a "proper" way of speaking is not effective; and we need
> another approach.
>
> OTOH: I have not thought of one which fills the gap. So - I use the
> "GNU/Linux" as a fallback. It works better than not doing it at all -
> and it advertises that I *do* care about the issues.
>

I recognise that the important bits in /bin and /sbin that are essential to
making the system work are all GNU utilities. It's not a matter of overall
ratio of Gnu vs. other binaries (we had this discussion 8 years ago too) but
that the GNU stuff and the kernel work together to make up the core of the
operating system. Everything else (X11, applications, etc) need this
underlying platform. But I still won't refer to it as a gnu/linux system. It
makes people look at me funny.

I do try to make a point of saying "Free and Open Source software" rather
than just OSS, and I've spent most of this month simply saying Free
Software. I could probably make a habit of that.

It's also an amusing coincidence that this month's WLUG presentation is on
Linksys embedded devices. The "Gnu/Linux" FAQ linked previously says there
are 'some' systems using the Linux kernel with a non-GNU environment.That's
a bit of an understatement. The majority of Windows systems connect to the
internet via a non-gnu Linux router. People are watching digital TV using
non-gnu set top decoders and recording the shows on non-gnu Linux PVRs. Many
businesses have replaced their traditional PABX with non-gnu Linux IP
phones, and their security cameras with non-gnu Linux network cameras.

And at least one WLUG member runs only Puppy Linux on his computer. ;-P