Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • initialism Name of the Free Software Foundation's project to develop a free UNIX-like operating system, including the legal framework, such as the source code and documentation licenses.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined 1983 by Richard M. Stallman as a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not Unix", following convention of naming programs similar to or inspired by existing programs as “(New Name) Is Not (Old Name)”; compare Xinu.

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Examples

  • (Moderated) gnu. misc.discuss Serious discussion about GNU and freed software.gnu. smalltalk.bug Bugs in GNU Smalltalk.

    List of Currently Active USENET Newsgroups (Part 2) 1992

  • Richard Stallman and many others use the term GNU/Linux, to remind people of the importance of the many GNU GPL contributions.

    James Love: Obama and Free Software 2009

  • Frustrated, he kicked off what he calls GNU, a massively collaborative project to create a free and sharable operating system.

    WikiLeaks and the Internet's Long War Tim Hwang 2010

  • Lack of courtesy always raises the level of aggression, thus dealing with the Hoi Polloi [GNU] is tough job but fortunately there are still many good kind and courteous people at all levels of society ..

    Police Rudeness Shock « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009

  • The international free software movement has been proving this for many years now, having successfully produced a fully functional operating system in GNU/Linux that can be freely used, shared and improved upon by anyone who wants to do so; and more recently there have been people doing similar things in encyclopedias, textbooks, and the world of the arts (including music).

    FSF steps into RIAA vs The People war 2009

  • The correct pronunciation of GNU is g'noo (IPA:/gnu/), with a hard "g", to distinguish it from the word new.

    Do Not Click on this Post or Risk IQ Increase Ben Barren 2006

  • I travel in the kinds of circles where many people use GNU/Linux on their computers -- and not only use it, but actually call it GNU/Linux instead of just "Linux," in the fashion called for by Richard Stallman.

    Boing Boing: July 31, 2005 - August 6, 2005 Archives 2005

  • Debian uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU/Linux.

    Fileforum 2010

  • Debian uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU / Linux.

    Fileforum 2009

  • Debian uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project; hence the name GNU / Linux.

    9down.com 2008

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