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www/gnu thegnuproject.html
|
From: |
Yavor Doganov |
|
Subject: |
www/gnu thegnuproject.html |
|
Date: |
Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:16:34 +0000 |
CVSROOT: /web/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Yavor Doganov <yavor> 10/06/25 08:16:34
Modified files:
gnu : thegnuproject.html
Log message:
Validation fix. Get rid of excessive acronym/abbr.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/gnu/thegnuproject.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.40&r2=1.41
Patches:
Index: thegnuproject.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/gnu/thegnuproject.html,v
retrieving revision 1.40
retrieving revision 1.41
diff -u -b -r1.40 -r1.41
--- thegnuproject.html 24 Jun 2010 15:45:58 -0000 1.40
+++ thegnuproject.html 25 Jun 2010 08:16:31 -0000 1.41
@@ -24,20 +24,21 @@
<h3>The first software-sharing community</h3>
<p>
-When I started working at the <abbr title="Massachusetts Institute of
-Technology">MIT</abbr> Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1971, I became
-part of a software-sharing community that had existed for many years.
-Sharing of software was not limited to our particular community; it is
-as old as computers, just as sharing of recipes is as old as cooking.
-But we did it more than most.</p>
+When I started working at the
+<acronym title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</acronym>
+Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1971, I became part of a
+software-sharing community that had existed for many years. Sharing
+of software was not limited to our particular community; it is as old
+as computers, just as sharing of recipes is as old as cooking. But we
+did it more than most.</p>
<p>
The AI Lab used a timesharing operating system called
-<abbr title="Incompatible Timesharing System">ITS</abbr> (the
+<acronym title="Incompatible Timesharing System">ITS</acronym> (the
Incompatible Timesharing System) that the lab's staff hackers (1) had
designed and written in assembler language for the Digital
-<abbr title="Programmed Data Processor">PDP</abbr>-10, one of the
-large computers of the era. As a member of this community, an AI lab
-staff system hacker, my job was to improve this system.</p>
+<acronym title="Programmed Data Processor">PDP</acronym>-10, one of
+the large computers of the era. As a member of this community, an AI
+lab staff system hacker, my job was to improve this system.</p>
<p>
We did not call our software “free software”, because that
term did not yet exist; but that is what it was. Whenever people from
@@ -56,20 +57,19 @@
<h3>The collapse of the community</h3>
<p>
The situation changed drastically in the early 1980s when Digital
-discontinued the <abbr>PDP</abbr>-10 series. Its architecture,
-elegant and powerful in the 60s, could not extend naturally to the
-larger address spaces that were becoming feasible in the 80s. This
-meant that nearly all of the programs composing <abbr>ITS</abbr> were
-obsolete.</p>
+discontinued the PDP-10 series. Its architecture, elegant and
+powerful in the 60s, could not extend naturally to the larger address
+spaces that were becoming feasible in the 80s. This meant that nearly
+all of the programs composing ITS were obsolete.</p>
<p>
The AI lab hacker community had already collapsed, not long before.
In 1981, the spin-off company Symbolics had hired away nearly all of
the hackers from the AI lab, and the depopulated community was unable
to maintain itself. (The book Hackers, by Steve Levy, describes these
events, as well as giving a clear picture of this community in its
-prime.) When the AI lab bought a new <abbr>PDP</abbr>-10 in 1982, its
+prime.) When the AI lab bought a new PDP-10 in 1982, its
administrators decided to use Digital's non-free timesharing system
-instead of <abbr>ITS</abbr>.</p>
+instead of ITS.</p>
<p>
The modern computers of the era, such as the VAX or the 68020, had
their own operating systems, but none of them were free software: you
@@ -144,13 +144,13 @@
making the world a worse place.</p>
<p>
I had already experienced being on the receiving end of a
-nondisclosure agreement, when someone refused to give me and
-the <abbr>MIT</abbr> AI lab the source code for the control program
-for our printer. (The lack of certain features in this program made
-use of the printer extremely frustrating.) So I could not tell myself
-that nondisclosure agreements were innocent. I was very angry when he
-refused to share with us; I could not turn around and do the same
-thing to everyone else.</p>
+nondisclosure agreement, when someone refused to give me and the MIT
+AI lab the source code for the control program for our printer. (The
+lack of certain features in this program made use of the printer
+extremely frustrating.) So I could not tell myself that nondisclosure
+agreements were innocent. I was very angry when he refused to share
+with us; I could not turn around and do the same thing to everyone
+else.</p>
<p>
Another choice, straightforward but unpleasant, was to leave the
computer field. That way my skills would not be misused, but they
@@ -179,9 +179,9 @@
An operating system does not mean just a kernel, barely enough to run
other programs. In the 1970s, every operating system worthy of the
name included command processors, assemblers, compilers, interpreters,
-debuggers, text editors, mailers, and much more. <abbr>ITS</abbr> had
-them, Multics had them, VMS had them, and Unix had them. The GNU
-operating system would include them too.</p>
+debuggers, text editors, mailers, and much more. ITS had them,
+Multics had them, VMS had them, and Unix had them. The GNU operating
+system would include them too.</p>
<p>
Later I heard these words, attributed to Hillel (1):</p>
@@ -252,27 +252,26 @@
<h3>Commencing the project</h3>
<p>
-In January 1984 I quit my job at <abbr>MIT</abbr> and began writing
-GNU software. Leaving <abbr>MIT</abbr> was necessary so
-that <abbr>MIT</abbr> would not be able to interfere with distributing
-GNU as free software. If I had remained on the
-staff, <abbr>MIT</abbr> could have claimed to own the work, and could
-have imposed their own distribution terms, or even turned the work
-into a proprietary software package. I had no intention of doing a
-large amount of work only to see it become useless for its intended
-purpose: creating a new software-sharing community.</p>
+In January 1984 I quit my job at MIT and began writing GNU software.
+Leaving MIT was necessary so that MIT would not be able to interfere
+with distributing GNU as free software. If I had remained on the
+staff, MIT could have claimed to own the work, and could have imposed
+their own distribution terms, or even turned the work into a
+proprietary software package. I had no intention of doing a large
+amount of work only to see it become useless for its intended purpose:
+creating a new software-sharing community.</p>
<p>
-However, Professor Winston, then the head of the <abbr>MIT</abbr> AI
-Lab, kindly invited me to keep using the lab's facilities.</p>
+However, Professor Winston, then the head of the MIT AI Lab, kindly
+invited me to keep using the lab's facilities.</p>
<h3>The first steps</h3>
<p>
Shortly before beginning the GNU project, I heard about the Free
University Compiler Kit, also known as VUCK. (The Dutch word for
-“free” is written with a <em>v<em>.) This was a compiler designed
-to handle multiple languages, including C and Pascal, and to support
-multiple target machines. I wrote to its author asking if GNU could
-use it.</p>
+“free” is written with a <em>v</em>.) This was a compiler
+designed to handle multiple languages, including C and Pascal, and to
+support multiple target machines. I wrote to its author asking if GNU
+could use it.</p>
<p>
He responded derisively, stating that the university was free but the
compiler was not. I therefore decided that my first program for the
@@ -292,10 +291,10 @@
into a chain of “instructions”, and then generating the
whole output file, without ever freeing any storage. At this point, I
concluded I would have to write a new compiler from scratch. That new
-compiler is now known as <acronym title="GNU Compiler
-Collection">GCC</acronym>; none of the Pastel compiler is used in it,
-but I managed to adapt and use the C front end that I had written.
-But that was some years later; first, I worked on GNU Emacs.</p>
+compiler is now known as <acronym title="GNU Compiler
Collection">GCC</acronym>;
+none of the Pastel compiler is used in it, but I managed to adapt and
+use the C front end that I had written. But that was some years
+later; first, I worked on GNU Emacs.</p>
<h3>GNU Emacs</h3>
<p>
@@ -315,9 +314,9 @@
<p>
I could have said, “Find a friend who is on the net and who will make
a copy for you.” Or I could have done what I did with the original
-<abbr>PDP</abbr>-10 Emacs: tell them, “Mail me a tape and a
-<abbr title="Self-addressed Stamped Envelope">SASE</abbr>, and I will
-mail it back with Emacs on it.” But I had no job, and I was
+PDP-10 Emacs: tell them, “Mail me a tape and a
+<acronym title="Self-addressed Stamped Envelope">SASE</acronym>, and I
+will mail it back with Emacs on it.” But I had no job, and I was
looking for ways to make money from free software. So I announced
that I would mail a tape to whoever wanted one, for a fee of $150. In
this way, I started a free software distribution business, the
@@ -336,11 +335,11 @@
licenses which allow proprietary modified versions.</p>
<p>
The paradigmatic example of this problem is the X Window System.
-Developed at <abbr>MIT</abbr>, and released as free software with a
-permissive license, it was soon adopted by various computer companies.
-They added X to their proprietary Unix systems, in binary form only,
-and covered by the same nondisclosure agreement. These copies of X
-were no more free software than Unix was.</p>
+Developed at MIT, and released as free software with a permissive
+license, it was soon adopted by various computer companies. They
+added X to their proprietary Unix systems, in binary form only, and
+covered by the same nondisclosure agreement. These copies of X were
+no more free software than Unix was.</p>
<p>
The developers of the X Window System did not consider this a
problem—they expected and intended this to happen. Their goal was
@@ -351,11 +350,11 @@
This led to a paradoxical situation where two different ways of
counting the amount of freedom gave different answers to the question,
“Is this program free?” If you judged based on the freedom
-provided by the distribution terms of the <abbr>MIT</abbr> release,
-you would say that X was free software. But if you measured the
-freedom of the average user of X, you would have to say it was
-proprietary software. Most X users were running the proprietary
-versions that came with Unix systems, not the free version.</p>
+provided by the distribution terms of the MIT release, you would say
+that X was free software. But if you measured the freedom of the
+average user of X, you would have to say it was proprietary software.
+Most X users were running the proprietary versions that came with Unix
+systems, not the free version.</p>
<h3>Copyleft and the GNU GPL</h3>
<p>
@@ -423,26 +422,26 @@
in the GNU project, and we decided that it was time to seek funding
once again. So in 1985 we created the Free Software Foundation, a
tax-exempt charity for free software development. The
-<abbr title="Free Software Foundation">FSF</abbr> also took over the
-Emacs tape distribution business; later it extended this by adding
+<acronym title="Free Software Foundation">FSF</acronym> also took over
+the Emacs tape distribution business; later it extended this by adding
other free software (both GNU and non-GNU) to the tape, and by selling
free manuals as well.</p>
<p>
-The <abbr>FSF</abbr> accepts donations, but most of its income has
-always come from sales—of copies of free software, and of other
-related services. Today it sells CD-ROMs of source code, CD-ROMs with
-binaries, nicely printed manuals (all with freedom to redistribute and
-modify), and Deluxe Distributions (where we build the whole collection
-of software for your choice of platform).</p>
+The FSF accepts donations, but most of its income has always come from
+sales—of copies of free software, and of other related services.
+Today it sells CD-ROMs of source code, CD-ROMs with binaries, nicely
+printed manuals (all with freedom to redistribute and modify), and
+Deluxe Distributions (where we build the whole collection of software
+for your choice of platform).</p>
<p>
Free Software Foundation employees have written and maintained a
number of GNU software packages. Two notable ones are the C library
and the shell. The GNU C library is what every program running on a
GNU/Linux system uses to communicate with Linux. It was developed by
a member of the Free Software Foundation staff, Roland McGrath. The
-shell used on most GNU/Linux systems is <acronym title="Bourne Again
-Shell">BASH</acronym>, the Bourne Again Shell(1), which was developed
-by <abbr>FSF</abbr> employee Brian Fox.</p>
+shell used on most GNU/Linux systems is
+<acronym title="Bourne Again Shell">BASH</acronym>, the Bourne Again
+Shell(1), which was developed by FSF employee Brian Fox.</p>
<p>
We funded development of these programs because the GNU project was
not just about tools or a development environment. Our goal was a
@@ -459,12 +458,11 @@
users' freedom, we wish them success.</p>
<p>
Selling copies of Emacs demonstrates one kind of free software
-business. When the <abbr>FSF</abbr> took over that business, I needed
-another way to make a living. I found it in selling services relating
-to the free software I had developed. This included teaching, for
-subjects such as how to program GNU Emacs and how to
-customize <acronym>GCC</acronym>, and software development, mostly
-porting <acronym>GCC</acronym> to new platforms.</p>
+business. When the FSF took over that business, I needed another way
+to make a living. I found it in selling services relating to the free
+software I had developed. This included teaching, for subjects such
+as how to program GNU Emacs and how to customize GCC, and software
+development, mostly porting GCC to new platforms.</p>
<p>
Today each of these kinds of free software business is practiced by a
number of corporations. Some distribute free software collections on
@@ -583,12 +581,12 @@
software.</p>
<p>
Consider GNU Readline, a library that was developed to provide
-command-line editing for <acronym>BASH</acronym>. Readline is
-released under the ordinary GNU GPL, not the Library GPL. This
-probably does reduce the amount Readline is used, but that is no loss
-for us. Meanwhile, at least one useful application has been made free
-software specifically so it could use Readline, and that is a real
-gain for the community.</p>
+command-line editing for BASH. Readline is released under the
+ordinary GNU GPL, not the Library GPL. This probably does reduce the
+amount Readline is used, but that is no loss for us. Meanwhile, at
+least one useful application has been made free software specifically
+so it could use Readline, and that is a real gain for the
+community.</p>
<p>
Proprietary software developers have the advantages money provides;
free software developers need to make advantages for each other. I
@@ -611,15 +609,15 @@
vision and a plan, not from impulse.</p>
<p>
For example, we developed the GNU C library because a Unix-like system
-needs a C library, the Bourne-Again Shell (<acronym>bash</acronym>)
-because a Unix-like system needs a shell, and GNU tar because a
-Unix-like system needs a tar program. The same is true for my own
-programs—the GNU C compiler, GNU Emacs, GDB and GNU Make.</p>
+needs a C library, the Bourne-Again Shell (bash) because a Unix-like
+system needs a shell, and GNU tar because a Unix-like system needs a
+tar program. The same is true for my own programs—the GNU C
+compiler, GNU Emacs, GDB and GNU Make.</p>
<p>
Some GNU programs were developed to cope with specific threats to our
freedom. Thus, we developed gzip to replace the Compress program,
which had been lost to the community because of
-the <abbr title="Lempel-Ziv-Welch">LZW</abbr> patents. We found
+the <acronym title="Lempel-Ziv-Welch">LZW</acronym> patents. We found
people to develop LessTif, and more recently started
<acronym title="GNU Network Object Model Environment">GNOME</acronym>
and Harmony, to address the problems caused by certain proprietary
@@ -766,35 +764,34 @@
took many years; LessTif, developed by the Hungry Programmers, became
powerful enough to support most Motif applications only in 1997.</p>
<p>
-Between 1996 and 1998, another non-free <abbr title="Graphical User
-Interface">GUI</abbr> toolkit library, called Qt, was used in a
-substantial collection of free software, the desktop
+Between 1996 and 1998, another non-free
+<acronym title="Graphical User Interface">GUI</acronym> toolkit
+library, called Qt, was used in a substantial collection of free
+software, the desktop
<acronym title="K Desktop Environment">KDE</acronym>.</p>
<p>
-Free GNU/Linux systems were unable to use <acronym>KDE</acronym>,
-because we could not use the library. However, some commercial
-distributors of GNU/Linux systems who were not strict about sticking
-with free software added <acronym>KDE</acronym> to their
-systems—producing a system with more capabilities, but less freedom.
-The <acronym>KDE</acronym> group was actively encouraging more
+Free GNU/Linux systems were unable to use KDE, because we could not
+use the library. However, some commercial distributors of GNU/Linux
+systems who were not strict about sticking with free software added
+KDE to their systems—producing a system with more capabilities,
+but less freedom. The KDE group was actively encouraging more
programmers to use Qt, and millions of new “Linux users”
had never been exposed to the idea that there was a problem in this.
The situation appeared grim.</p>
<p>
The free software community responded to the problem in two ways:
-<acronym>GNOME</acronym> and Harmony.</p>
+GNOME and Harmony.</p>
<p>
-<acronym>GNOME</acronym>, the GNU Network Object Model Environment, is
-GNU's desktop project. Started in 1997 by Miguel de Icaza, and
-developed with the support of Red Hat
-Software, <acronym>GNOME</acronym> set out to provide similar desktop
+GNOME, the GNU Network Object Model Environment, is GNU's desktop
+project. Started in 1997 by Miguel de Icaza, and developed with the
+support of Red Hat Software, GNOME set out to provide similar desktop
facilities, but using free software exclusively. It has technical
advantages as well, such as supporting a variety of languages, not
just C++. But its main purpose was freedom: not to require the use of
any non-free software.</p>
<p>
Harmony is a compatible replacement library, designed to make it
-possible to run <acronym>KDE</acronym> software without using Qt.</p>
+possible to run KDE software without using Qt.</p>
<p>
In November 1998, the developers of Qt announced a change of license
which, when carried out, should make Qt free software. There is no
@@ -815,12 +812,12 @@
<p>
The worst threat we face comes from software patents, which can put
algorithms and features off limits to free software for up to twenty
-years. The <abbr>LZW</abbr> compression algorithm patents were
-applied for in 1983, and we still cannot release free software to
-produce proper compressed <abbr title="Graphics Interchange
-Format">GIF</abbr>s. In 1998, a free program to produce
-<abbr title="MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3">MP3</abbr> compressed audio was
-removed from distribution under threat of a patent suit.</p>
+years. The LZW compression algorithm patents were applied for in
+1983, and we still cannot release free software to produce proper
+compressed <acronym title="Graphics Interchange Format">GIF</acronym>s.
+In 1998, a free program to produce
+<acronym title="MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3">MP3</acronym> compressed audio
+was removed from distribution under threat of a patent suit.</p>
<p>
There are ways to cope with patents: we can search for evidence that a
patent is invalid, and we can look for alternative ways to do a job.
@@ -989,12 +986,11 @@
<p>
Please send FSF & GNU inquiries to
-<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
-There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
-the FSF.
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><address@hidden></a>. There are
+also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF.
<br />
-Please send broken links and other corrections (or suggestions) to
-<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
+Please send broken links and other corrections or suggestions to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><address@hidden></a>.
</p>
<p>
@@ -1015,7 +1011,7 @@
<p>
Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2010/06/24 15:45:58 $
+$Date: 2010/06/25 08:16:31 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>
@@ -1023,24 +1019,27 @@
<div id="translations">
<h4>Translations of this page</h4>
-<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical. -->
-<!-- Comment what the language is for each type, i.e. de is Deutsch.-->
-<!-- If you add a new language here, please -->
-<!-- advise address@hidden and add it to -->
-<!-- - /home/www/bin/nightly-vars either TAGSLANG or WEBLANG -->
-<!-- - /home/www/html/server/standards/README.translations.html -->
-<!-- - one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway" -->
-<!-- - if there is a translation team, you also have to add an alias -->
-<!-- to mail.gnu.org:/com/mailer/aliases -->
-<!-- Please also check you have the 2 letter language code right versus -->
-<!-- <URL:http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm> -->
-<!-- Please use W3C normative character entities -->
+
+<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical by language code.
+ Comment what the language is for each type, i.e. de is German.
+ Write the language name in its own language (Deutsch) in the text.
+ If you add a new language here, please
+ advise address@hidden and add it to
+ - /home/www/html/server/standards/README.translations.html
+ - one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway"
+ - if there is a translation team, you also have to add an alias
+ to mail.gnu.org:/com/mailer/aliases
+ Please also check you have the language code right; see:
+ http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php
+ If the 2-letter ISO 639-1 code is not available,
+ use the 3-letter ISO 639-2.
+ Please use W3C normative character entities. -->
<ul class="translations-list">
<!-- Bosnian -->
-<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.bs.html">Bosanski</a> [bs]</li>
+<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.bs.html">bosanski</a> [bs]</li>
<!-- Catalan -->
-<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.ca.html">Català</a> [ca]</li>
+<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.ca.html">català</a> [ca]</li>
<!-- Czech -->
<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.cs.html">Česky</a> [cs]</li>
<!-- German -->
@@ -1050,15 +1049,15 @@
<!-- English -->
<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.html">English</a> [en]</li>
<!-- Spanish -->
-<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.es.html">Español</a> [es]</li>
+<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.es.html">español</a> [es]</li>
<!-- Finnish -->
-<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.fi.html">Suomi</a> [fi]</li>
+<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.fi.html">suomi</a> [fi]</li>
<!-- French -->
-<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.fr.html">Français</a> [fr]</li>
+<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.fr.html">français</a> [fr]</li>
<!-- Indonesian -->
<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.id.html">Bahasa Indonesia</a> [id]</li>
<!-- Italian -->
-<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.it.html">Italiano</a> [it]</li>
+<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.it.html">italiano</a> [it]</li>
<!-- Japanese -->
<li><a
href="/gnu/thegnuproject.ja.html">日本語</a> [ja]</li>
<!-- Korean -->
@@ -1066,9 +1065,9 @@
<!-- Dutch -->
<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.nl.html">Nederlands</a> [nl]</li>
<!-- Polish -->
-<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.pl.html">Polski</a> [pl]</li>
+<li><a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.pl.html">polski</a> [pl]</li>
<!-- Russian -->
-<li><a
href="/gnu/thegnuproject.ru.html">Русский</a> [ru]</li>
+<li><a
href="/gnu/thegnuproject.ru.html">русский</a> [ru]</li>
<!-- Turkish -->
<li><a
href="/gnu/thegnuproject.tr.html">Türkçe</a> [tr]</li>
<!-- Chinese (Simplified) -->
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Jeanne Rasata, 2010/06/24
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html,
Yavor Doganov <=
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Richard M. Stallman, 2010/06/26
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Matt Lee, 2010/06/27
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Matt Lee, 2010/06/27
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Matt Lee, 2010/06/27
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Jeanne Rasata, 2010/06/28
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Jeanne Rasata, 2010/06/28
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Jeanne Rasata, 2010/06/28
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Richard M. Stallman, 2010/06/28
- www/gnu thegnuproject.html, Richard M. Stallman, 2010/06/30