GNU's Not UNIX

GNU is a project started in the early days of computing determined to recreate the UNIX operating system by the principles of Free Software.

The project was headed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), led by Richard Stallman.

GNU wanted to build an entire OS, but by the time GNU made the components aside from the kernel, Linus Torvalds was working on another project which simply created a kernel, which is known as Linux - so the FSF combined the GNU user-space with the Linux kernel to create the GNU/Linux operating system.

Specific combinations of GNU utilities with the Linux kernel are called GNU/Linux distributions, which is often referred to as just Linux distributions, although Richard Stallman stresses the importance of referring to them as GNU/Linux distributions. This is a controversial topic.

Examples of GNU Software

• glibc - GNU C Library
• gcc - GNU Compiler Collection
• gimp - GNU Image Manipulation Program
• coreutils - GNU Core Utilities
• GNU Social (social networking site)
• GNU Talon (private currency)
• GNS - GNU Name System