On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 12:25:25 +1000, "Shayne O'Connor" > sorry to snip so much, but as i said ... who wants/needs to use > GNU/Linux in everyday conversation and in general discussion. i > only suggest that if you're getting some sort of wiki or web page > that is going to be a primer in all things related to linux > software, then gee > - it's pretty damned easy just to write GNU/Linux. Where are you going with this? I just wrote a long ass email about why GNU-approved terminology is a stumbling block to adoption. The fact that it's a subtle concept which is not immediately grasped was only part of the picture. And ease of typing has nothing to do with it. > seriously, if the concept of Free software is that hard to grasp, > then i doubt anyone's going to have any luck with the stuff that > *actually is confusing* - like getting a piece of software installed. *I* had trouble with "GNU/Linux" and "Free Software," and I *wrote* Specimen. A task which, in my experience, is almost as confusing as installing software. > it's got nothing to do with ideology, and everything to do with > reality. GNU/Linux. Three letters and a backslash. The FSF is so much > more than just a pain in the arse - as its name implies, it is a > foundation on which *lots* of stuff has been built. You've got it backwards. The reality is that the use of GNU/Linux pales in comparison to Linux, and that's not changing. A further aspect of this reality is the use of GNU/Linux is a stumbling block to adoption by the "unwashed masses." A musician contemplating the use of Linux is not going to expect freeaudiosoftware.org to have a damn thing to do with it. Hell, even the Gnome home page says "Linux" instead of "GNU/Linux," and it's a fraggin' GNU project. You think that, to some fuzzily defined extent, we should say "GNU/Linux" because that's The Right Thing. This is ideological. I think that, to an absolute extent, we should say "Linux" because that's what the rest of the world says. This is realistic. > when yr mate asks how you roll beats in future, shouldn't you just say > "with a program called Specimen"? These days, I say "I use an open source program called Specimen that I wrote for Linux," and everybody understands me fine. -Pete
