Re: Are the FSF helpful?

[Frank Van Damme <frank.vandamme@student.kuleuven.ac.be>]

On Thursday 02 January 2003 02:38, Bert de Jong wrote:
> - if you look at it from a practical angle, people will dislike to use the
> name GNU/Linux because it's too long and not easy to pronounce. This is
> partly the FSF's own fault, because they chose an awkward - if playful
> -acronym as a name for their os-without-kernel collection of software.
>
> - if you look at it from a linguist's point of view - which is a
> reasonable thing to do if you're talking about names - this is a
> non-issue. What has occured with the names GNU, GNU/Linux and Linux is
> referred to by linguists as "metonymia pars pro toto", or "calling a thing
> by a part of it." People have started to call the entire OS Linux because
> it's nice and short. This is a common style figure which also occurs if
> you ask for "another cup" if you mean "another cup of coffee" for
> instance.


Exactly! So there are a few solutions:

- make linux part og the Gnu project, so they can run Gnu all together (or 
openbsd, before someone shoots my head off).

- use gnu Hurd if Torvalds doesn't like his name disappear from the gnu/linux 
scene :)

Frank


P.S. Pars pro toto sounds really good.