FAQ and GNU

[Mike Gerwitz]

On Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 18:03:52 +0200, Leo Gaspard wrote:
> On 10/10/2017 03:13 PM, Mike Gerwitz wrote:
>> On Mon, Oct 09, 2017 at 22:06:17 -0400, Robert J. Hansen wrote:
>>> A request has been made that each instance of "Linux" in the FAQ be
>>> replaced with "GNU/Linux".
>> 
>> GnuPG is part of the GNU operating system.  Anywhere "Linux" is used to
>> describe the GNU/Linux operating system, "GNU/Linux" should be used.
>
> The occurences of “Linux” in the FAQ are in the following sentences,
> according to a `git grep` in the FAQ directory:

I haven't looked over the FAQ personally; I was just providing GNU's
stance on the issue.

But thank you for outlining it.

>> Except for a slight wording change, this DCO is identical to the one
> used by the Linux kernel.
>
> This sentence clearly deserves a Linux and not GNU/Linux... regardless
> of whether GnuPG is part of the “GNU operating system” (sorry for the
> quotes, it's the first time I hear this phrase) or not.

Yes, that shouldn't be GNU/Linux.

>> - Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.
>
> Clearly Linux and not GNU/Linux once again.

Right.

>> (all Linux distros feature a suitable GnuPG tool)
>
> Do we really want to exclude distros based on the Linux kernel but not
> on the GNU base utilities, but rather on eg. sbase [1]? I'd say there is
> no compelling reason to, so no reason to switch to GNU/Linux here.

If the intent is really to convey any distribution using the kernel
Linux, then it could say any "distros based on the kernel Linux", or
more weakly "Linux-based".

I don't think that's what it means.

>> *** … for Linux?
>>
>> The bad news is there is no single, consistent way to install GnuPG on
>> Linux systems.  The good news is that it’s usually installed by
>> default, so nothing needs to be downloaded!
>
> The same argument leads me to think there is no reason to switch to
> GNU/Linux here again; distros without the GNU userspace don't have an
> easier way to install than distros with the GNU userspace as far as I know.

"Linux system" is explicitly mentioned as something to avoid in the
maintainers document I referenced.

>> **** … for Debian GNU/Linux or Ubuntu?
>
> It's already GNU/Linux.

Good!

>> ** … Linux or FreeBSD?
>>
>> [Follows a list of email clients compatible with non-{Windows,Mac}
>> operating systems]
>
> Do Thunderbird, Gnus, Mutt, Kontact, Evolution or Claws-Mail not work on
> computers which would have swapped the GNU userland with eg. sbase? If
> so, maybe it'd be good to add a note stating that it doesn't work
> without GNU tools, but I don't see any reason to exclude
> non-GNU-userspace-based Linux distribution from the list, especially
> given how FreeBSD is included in there too.

Same as above.

In any case, GNU packages have a bias toward GNU.  Emphasizing
"Linux-based" systems instead of GNU isn't much different than Apple
advertising BSD-based systems instead of Mac.

-- 
Mike Gerwitz
Free Software Hacker+Activist | GNU Maintainer & Volunteer
GPG: D6E9 B930 028A 6C38 F43B  2388 FEF6 3574 5E6F 6D05
https://mikegerwitz.com
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