On 12/29/06, Kenneth Gonsalves lawgon@au-kbc.org wrote:
i raised these doubts because i couldnt understand the FAQ. That clearly talks of the GNU operating system. Now you say it is not an operating system. As far as I can see, it is a set of tools and not an operating system.
I guess you're missing the context. The GNU operating system was the original stated objective of the GNU project - a complete usable system with applications and libraries - capable of functioning stand-alone. So ...
1. when we say a "GNU operating system" or simple "GNU", we mean a *pure* GNU system including a GNU kernel (hurd). 2. when we say "GNU/Linux" - we mean a part of the GNU operating system *mated* with the Linux kernel. In this case, the GNU part does NOT by itself form an operating system.
Now the correctness of *your favourite signature* depends on the context in which GNU is used. It is correct for the 1st one and incorrect for the 2nd one. In all it is an ambiguous statement. Hope this clarifies your confusion. If it doesn't, take issue with the English language and not with GNU or FSF :-p
. farazs