Overview
GNU is an extensive project launched in 1983 by Richard Stallman to develop a free Unix-like operating system. The name “GNU” is a recursive acronym for “GNU’s Not Unix,” which highlights the project’s original goal of creating a system compatible with Unix but entirely free software.
Core Components of GNU
The GNU project encompasses a wide range of software. Key components include:
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GNU Compiler Collection (GCC): A set of compilers for various programming languages including C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Ada, and Go. GCC is central to the development of GNU and Linux systems.
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GNU Bash: A Unix shell and command language, which is a default shell on many systems running Linux and macOS.
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GNU Core Utilities: A package of GNU versions of common management tools for handling files, text streams, and other tasks. These utilities are the basic file, shell, and text manipulation utilities of the GNU operating system.
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GNU Debugger (GDB): A portable debugger that runs on many Unix-like systems and works for many programming languages, including Ada, C, C++, Objective-C, Free Pascal, Fortran, Java, and more.
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GNU Emacs: An extensible, customizable text editor—at its core—and more because it provides an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing.
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GNU Binutils: A collection of binary tools, including a linker, an assembler, and other tools for managing object files.
GNU Operating System
The GNU operating system is intended to be a complete free software solution. It includes everything from basic programs and libraries that define the operating system to software applications that run on them. The development of the GNU operating system began in 1984, and it includes many of the official GNU software packages.
Relationship with Linux
While GNU aimed to develop a complete operating system, by the early 90s, many of its components were complete except for the kernel. In 1991, Linus Torvalds released the Linux kernel as a freely modifiable source code. The Linux kernel filled the gap in the GNU project, creating a fully functioning free operating system when combined with GNU components. This combination is often referred to as GNU/Linux, though it is commonly called Linux.
Philosophy and Licensing
The philosophy behind GNU emphasizes the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve software. This is embodied in the GNU General Public License (GPL), which is a widely used free software license that ensures end users the freedom to use, study, share (copy), and modify the software. Software that ensures these freedoms is termed “free software.”
The GPL aims to guarantee these freedoms by preventing the proprietary use of free software, ensuring that all modifications and extended versions of the program are also free. This has profound implications for the software industry, promoting collaborative software development and protecting the rights of users.