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www/gnu gnu-linux-faq.html
From: |
Richard M. Stallman |
Subject: |
www/gnu gnu-linux-faq.html |
Date: |
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 20:34:31 -0400 (EDT) |
CVSROOT: /web/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Richard M. Stallman <rms> 18/03/30 20:34:31
Modified files:
gnu : gnu-linux-faq.html
Log message:
(usegnulinuxandandroid): New question.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.155&r2=1.156
Patches:
Index: gnu-linux-faq.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html,v
retrieving revision 1.155
retrieving revision 1.156
diff -u -b -r1.155 -r1.156
--- gnu-linux-faq.html 31 Mar 2018 00:33:53 -0000 1.155
+++ gnu-linux-faq.html 31 Mar 2018 00:34:31 -0000 1.156
@@ -188,6 +188,9 @@
<li><a href="#linuxsyswithoutgnu">Are there complete Linux systems [sic]
without GNU?</a></li>
+<li><a href="#usegnulinuxandandroid">Is it correct to say “using
+ Linux” if it refers to using GNU/Linux and using Android?</a></li>
+
<li><a href="#helplinus">Why not call the system
“Linux” anyway, and strengthen Linus Torvalds' role as
posterboy for our community?</a></li>
@@ -1221,6 +1224,35 @@
from GNU/Linux is the absence of GNU.</p>
</dd>
+<dt id="usegnulinuxandandroid">Is it correct to say “using Linux”
if it refers to using GNU/Linux and
+using Android? <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a
href="#usegnulinuxandandroidlinuxsyswithoutgnu">#usegnulinuxandandroidlinuxsyswithoutgnu</a>)</span></dt>
+
+<dd>
+Far from it. That usage is so strained that
+people will not understand the intended meaning.
+<p>
+The public will find it very strange to speak of using Android as
+“using Linux”. It's like having a conversation, then
+saying you were conversing with the person's intestines or the
+person's circulatory system.</p>
+<p>
+The public <em>will</em> understand the idea of “using
+Linux” when it's really GNU/Linux, by way of the usual
+misunderstanding: thinking of the whole system as
+“Linux”.</p>
+<p>
+Use of Android and use of GNU/Linux are totally different, as
+different as driving a car and riding a bicycle. The fact that the
+first two both contain Linux is irrelevant to using them, just as the
+fact that a car and a bicycle both have a structure of metal is
+irrelevant to using those two. If you wish to talk about using cars
+and bikes, you wouldn't speak of “riding metal objects”
+— not unless you're playing games with the reader. You would
+say, “using cars and bikes.” Likewise, the clear way to
+talk about using GNU/Linux and Android is to say “using
+GNU/Linux and Android.”</p>
+</dd>
+
<dt id="helplinus">Why not call the system
“Linux” anyway, and strengthen Linus Torvalds' role as
posterboy for our
community? <span class="anchor-reference-id">(<a
href="#helplinus">#helplinus</a>)</span></dt>
@@ -1558,7 +1590,7 @@
<p class="unprintable">Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2018/03/31 00:33:53 $
+$Date: 2018/03/31 00:34:31 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>