www/gnu gnu-linux-faq.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /webcvs/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       07/05/24 10:50:11

Modified files:
        gnu            : gnu-linux-faq.html 

Log message:
        Many cleanups.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.68&r2=1.69

Patches:
Index: gnu-linux-faq.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html,v
retrieving revision 1.68
retrieving revision 1.69
diff -u -b -r1.68 -r1.69
--- gnu-linux-faq.html  9 Apr 2007 20:45:57 -0000       1.68
+++ gnu-linux-faq.html  24 May 2007 10:50:06 -0000      1.69
@@ -203,10 +203,11 @@
 nature and origin.  Shortening &ldquo;GNU/Linux&rdquo; to &ldquo;Linux&rdquo; 
does give the
 wrong idea.</p>
 <p>
-The question is itself misleading because it compares &ldquo;GNU&rdquo; to a
-software development organization.  It makes sense to contrast the GNU
-Project with Microsoft, or contrast GNU with Microsoft Windows, but
-GNU and Microsoft are not comparable.</p>
+The question is itself misleading because it compares
+&ldquo;GNU&rdquo; to a software development organization.  It makes
+sense to contrast the GNU Project with Microsoft (two human
+activities), or contrast GNU with Microsoft Windows (two operating
+systems), but GNU and Microsoft are not comparable.</p>
 </dd>
 
 <dt id="tools">Isn't GNU a collection of
@@ -682,14 +683,12 @@
 replacement for Unix &ldquo;GNU's Not Unix&rdquo;.</p>
 <p>
 Historically, AT&amp;T which developed Unix did not want anyone to
-give it credit by using &ldquo;Unix&rdquo; in the name of a similar system.
-AT&amp;T did not want this even if the system did use code from Unix,
-not even if it was 99% Unix.  AT&amp;T disliked such credit so
-strongly that it would threaten to sue you for trademark infringement
-if you tried to give AT&amp;T credit in that way.  This is why each of
-the various modified versions of Unix (all of them just as proprietary
-as Unix), produced by various computer companies, had some other
-name.</p>
+give it credit by using &ldquo;Unix&rdquo; in the name of a similar
+system, not even in a system 99% copied from Unix.  AT&amp;T actually
+threatened to sue anyone giving AT&amp;T credit in that way.  This is
+why each of the various modified versions of Unix (each of them just
+as proprietary as Unix) had a completely different name that didn't
+include &ldquo;Unix&rdquo;.</p>
 </dd>
 
 <dt id="bsd">Should we say &ldquo;GNU/BSD&rdquo;
@@ -782,7 +781,7 @@
 Linus publicly states his disagreement with the free software
 movement's ideals.  He developed non-free software in his job for many
 years (and said so to a large audience at a &ldquo;Linux&rdquo;World show), and
-publicly invites fellow developers of Linux, the kernel, to use
+publicly invited fellow developers of Linux, the kernel, to use
 non-free software to work on it with him.  He goes even further, and
 rebukes people who suggest that engineers and scientists should
 consider social consequences of our technical work&mdash;rejecting the
@@ -817,10 +816,10 @@
 <dd>
 This isn't a battle, it is a campaign of education.  What to call the
 system is not a single decision, to be made at one moment by
-&ldquo;society&rdquo;: each person, each organization, can decide what name to
-use.  You can't tell others to say &ldquo;GNU/Linux&rdquo;, but you can decide 
to
-call the system &ldquo;GNU/Linux&rdquo; yourself&mdash;and by doing so, you 
will help
-us.
+&ldquo;society&rdquo;: each person, each organization, can decide what
+name to use.  You can't make others say &ldquo;GNU/Linux&rdquo;, but
+you can decide to call the system &ldquo;GNU/Linux&rdquo;
+yourself&mdash;and by doing so, you will make a difference.
 </dd>
 
 <dt id="whatgood">Society has made its
@@ -907,7 +906,7 @@
 
 <dd>
 We are not renaming anything; we have been calling this system 
&ldquo;GNU&rdquo;
-ever since we started it, in 1983.  The people who tried to rename
+ever since we announced it in 1983.  The people who tried to rename
 it to &ldquo;Linux&rdquo; should not have done so.</dd>
 
 <dt id="whynotsue">Why not sue people who call
@@ -939,8 +938,8 @@
 
 <dd>
 It would be hypocritical to make the name GNU/Linux a license
-requirement, and that's one of the reasons we don't do so.  We only
-<em>ask</em> you to give us credit &mdash; to do the right thing.
+requirement, and we don't.  We only <em>ask</em> you to give us the
+credit we deserve.
 </dd>
 
 <dt id="deserve">Since you failed to put
@@ -960,8 +959,8 @@
     off not contradicting what so many people believe?</dt>
 
 <dd>
-We don't think we should go along with large numbers of people who
-have been misled.  We hope you too will decide that truth is
+We don't think we should go along with large numbers of people because
+they have been misled.  We hope you too will decide that truth is
 important.
 <p>
 We could never have developed a free operating system without first
@@ -1049,7 +1048,7 @@
 <p>
 Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2007/04/09 20:45:57 $
+$Date: 2007/05/24 10:50:06 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>