Why no mention of GNU?

[Guido Heumann]

John M. Gabriele schrieb:
[...]
> I'm a Debian Sarge user. I'd consider trying out Ubuntu, but
> from taking a quick look at their web site, it seems that they
> munge together the ideas of free software and open source software.
> The front page says:
> 
> 
>>"Ubuntu is entirely committed to the principles of free and open
>>source software development; we encourage people to use free and
>>open source software, improve it and pass it on."
>>
> 
> 
> I don't quite know what that means. Further, I don't see any links to
> either the FSF homepage, or any references to GNU either.
> 
>>From what I *can* tell (from the "Manifesto" paragraph), the Ubuntu
> folks believe software should be available gratis, should have good
> i18n, and should be customizable.
> 

I don't fully aggree, although I admit that their use of the terms seems
to be generally a bit influenced by "marketing" thinking.

> Hmm... even the about page only mentions "Debian" and not
> "Debian GNU/Linux". On their philosophy page:
> http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ubuntu/philosophy/document_view
> they have this to say:
> 
> 
>>While some refer to free and open source as competing movements
>>with different ends, we do not see free and open source software
>>as either distinct or incompatible.
>>
> 

On the same page there's also this statement:

"The most important thing about Ubuntu is not that it is available free
of charge, but that it confers rights of software freedom on the people
who install and use it. It is those freedoms that enable the Ubuntu
community to grow, sharing its collective experience and expertise to
improve Ubuntu and make it suitable for use in new countries and new
industries."

And below is your link to the FSF.


> 
> Hmm... I believe they are distinct movements, and I don't see
> how it can be said they're not.
> 

As I see it, the free software guys want be be distinct from the
opensource guys, which themselves don't care too much about this and
prefer being distinct from the proprietary guys. Since both are distinct
of the proprietary guys they're somewhat compatible.

And since Ubuntu claims to "proudly include members who identify with
both the free software and open source camps and many who identify with
both", the camps are obviously not too far separated.

Personally, i think there a fundamental differences in both movements,
but they have also very much in common.

> I originally posted to ubuntu-devel because I was curious why
> neither GNU nor the FSF is hardly mentioned on the Ubuntu site --
> especially since Ubuntu is derived from Debian.
> 
> After looking into it some more, I'm not sure there's really anything
> to see here. It looks like the Ubuntu folks are more interested in
> open source software than the free software movement (which is their
> prerogative -- I'm certainly not complaining, as it's none of my
> business :). Maybe they simply chose Debian to build off of because of
> the great infrastructure rather than the ideals. Since Debian is strongly
> committed to free software, and since they openly recognize the
> contributions of GNU and the FSF, I'll be sticking with Debian.
> 

Well, have you read the page "Debian and Ubuntu"?
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ubuntu/relationship/document_view

"Debian and Ubuntu are grounded on the same free software philosophy.
Both groups are explicitly committed to building an operating system of
free software."

There's a lot more on that page about things you mentioned, you should
read it if this topic interests you. I also recommend the "Philosophy"
and "License Policy" pages ;-)

There may be reasons for sticking with debian (I have not fully
switched, too), but not because ubuntu has lack of free software spirit.


Guido