cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/5592397
Forty years ago, Richard Stallman announced the plan to develop the GNU operating system, which would be entirely composed of free software. The existence of a free operating system would enable people to operate their computers in freedom, throwing off the power of the developers of nonfree software. The GNU Project has also built the global free software movement.
Well, a “set of tools” is not any more or less an operating system than a kernel by itself is, yet not only do Linux fans insist on their kernel being an OS, but that RMS’s “set of tools” is somehow part of “Linux the operating system.” If he’s “salty” about anything it’s probably his life’s work being attributed to someone else who doesn’t even share his philosophy, which I think is understandable.
If you want to be really pedantic, like me, you can note that the Linux-libre variant of Linux is an official GNU project, so you can say that there is an official GNU kernel.
Regardless, I would say the most important contribution of the GNU project is the GNU General Public License, moreso than any specific tool or “set of tools.”