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Idea #6471: Ubuntu GNU/Linux

bug This idea is a duplicate of Idea #1492: Must Change the name.
Written by hurricanefloyd the 5 Apr 08 at 23:03. Category: Marketing. Related project: Nothing/Others. Status: New
Rationale
Note: This idea has been revised. A better title would be "Give credit to the FSF and the Debian team", but Brainstorm does not allow title edits.

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I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Ubuntu would have never been possible were it not for the work of the Free Software Foundation and the Debian team. As such, I propose that Canonical begin to give them credit for their contributions.

I like broomfighter's proposition (see the comments). He says:
"I believe we should change the phrasing on the Ubuntu Home Page to say '...based upon GNU/Linux and Debian Sid' rather than simply Linux, as is the case now."

Free Software is all about collaboration. Canonical should be shining a spotlight on the collaboration, not ignoring it.

(Special thanks to broomfighter and everyone else for their comments. Talk about credit where credit is due! :) )
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Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #6471
Written by hurricanefloyd the 5 Apr 08 at 23:03.
Ubuntu Brainstorm was updated in January 2009. Since the idea #6471 was submitted before this update, its rationale and solution are not separated. Please vote accordingly, and if you have the necessary rights, please separate the rationale from the solution. Thanks!

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steve196 wrote on the 5 Apr 08 at 23:13
Ubuntu GNU/Linux/X.org/GNOME/OpenOffice/sorrytoeveryoneweforgottomention

hurricanefloyd wrote on the 5 Apr 08 at 23:38
@steve196 - No, you can't give credit to everyone. But the work of the FSF is just as important, if not more so, than the work of Linus Torvalds.

XSP wrote on the 5 Apr 08 at 23:44
The word Linux means nothing without the GNU tool set that accompanies it. Then again, Ubuntu would be nothing without the work of Debian. The first version of Ubuntu was a very minimally tweaked version of Debian Sid. There needs to at the very least be a "Special Thanks To" page in the documentation.

broomfighter wrote on the 6 Apr 08 at 01:17
Adding GNU/Linux to the Ubuntu name is overkill for the same reason that car manufacturers don't include the names of part manufacturers in the branding of their products. The contributions of these and other groups to Free OSs is, for the most part, implied, and, like steve196 mentioned, impossible to implement fairly. Given the composite nature of all liberated systems, it must simply be agreed that the name "Ubuntu" is the collective name of all the component software parts and the modifications made to them.

That said, considering the core nature of the contributions of the FSF, the Linux Foundation, and the work of Debian, I believe we should change the phrasing on the Ubuntu Home Page to say "...based upon GNU/Linux and Debian Sid" rather than simply Linux, as is the case now.

hurricanefloyd wrote on the 6 Apr 08 at 01:36
@broomfighter - very interesting. I really like your proposal. I modified my proposition to reflect it.

Iamreck wrote on the 6 Apr 08 at 04:50
GNU is more important then Linux.

If you look at the percentage of lines of code that is in Ubuntu, I guarantee you most of it is GNU. The license that we use comes from the GNU movement.

GNU/Linux is the correct term to use, we should use it.

vexorian wrote on the 6 Apr 08 at 05:04
Free software is all about collaboration.

Requesting credits is against free software's own rules.

My take would be, call it 'ubuntu' only call it " A GNU-Linux distribution" in a small part of the FAQ or whatever describes it. As for the rest, call it just ubuntu.

vexorian wrote on the 6 Apr 08 at 05:04
*A GNU/Linux distribution based on debian

sf_007 wrote on the 6 Apr 08 at 16:56
According to Mr. Richard Stallman:
"So, why am I so concerned about this? You know, why do I think it is worth bothering you and perhaps giving you a, perhaps lowering your opinion of me, [Laughter] to raise this issue of credit? Because, you know, some people when I do this, some people think that it's because I want my ego to be fed, right? Of course, I'm not saying -- I'm not asking you to call it "Stallmanix," right? [Laughter] [Applause]

I'm asking you to call it GNU, because I want the GNU Project to get credit. And there's a very specific reason for that, which is a lot more important than anybody getting credit, in and of itself. You see, these days, if you look around in our community most of the people talking about it and writing about it don't ever mention GNU, and they don't ever mention these goals of freedom -- these political and social ideals, either. Because the place they come from is GNU."
Source:
www.gnu.org/events/rms-nyu-2001-transcript.html

hurricanefloyd wrote on the 6 Apr 08 at 19:29
This idea really isn't a duplicate anymore. I revised the idea.

The idea now states that instead of using the name Ubuntu GNU/Linux, Ubuntu should simply give credit to GNU and Debian whenever possible. Please remove duplicate status from this idea.


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