Hi all,

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It's more important that one believes in the GNU philosophy and is aware of the differences between GNU and Linux

i'm missing something here, is there anything different between the GNU philosophy and linux philosophy?

Yes, there _is_ a major difference between the two. Linux philosophy is about using/writing/promoting ``Open Source'' owing to technical benefits. The GNU philosophy is about using/writing/promoting ``Free Software'' for ethical reasons.

Very true, but in my original mail the intention was NOT to start a ``Free Software v/s Open Source Flame war". For a simple reason, i think making one's position very clear on what one believes AND giving good reason to do so is the only real way to make a difference.

i think there have been more than enough flame wars on this topic, and the result is still a stale mate, which itself tells that there is no point fighting about it. The community split into Free Software and Open Source, and they are still two separate entities. They do collaborate as the principals governing the software are the same. The difference is that there is an operational definition of the term ``Free Software" as charcterised by the 4 principal freedoms it offers. ``Open Source" does not have an operational definition, but a semantic implication that software source code must be open. That's my stated position.

Regards,

- vihan