A rose by any other name... or what is Linux?

Friday Jul 09, 2004

I previously mentioned a Linux Insider magazine article entitled Sun's bum rap on Open-Source. While at GUADEC, I read a linux magazine article which gave another company credit for work that was done by Sun. An open-source advocate at GUADEC also referred to this GNOME developers conference as "a linux conference." This got me wondering whether people understand that the open-source movement is not limited to linux. For example, I use the GNOME desktop on four machines:

1. Solaris 9[tm] on an Ultra-Enterprise SunRay[tm] server
2. Solaris 10 express on an X86 desktop
3. Yellowdog linux on a Powerbook G3
4. Java Desktop System 2.0 on an X86 laptop

If I had installed the same version of GNOME, the same themes and the same applications on all of these platforms, most people wouldn't be able to tell them apart. But only the last two would be considered linux by most definitions and few are aware that linux runs on non x86 hardware such as SPARC and PowerPC. This brought me to another very simple (non controversal ;-) question. What is linux?

The Purist definition
The computing-dictionary starts with:
Linux - ("Linus Unix") /li'nuks/ (but see below) An implementation of the Unix kernel originally written from scratch with no proprietary code. This is the definition that GNU experts such as Richard Stallman might subscribe to. However, it is not universally accepted. There is also:

The trademark definition
dictionary.reference.com gives:
Lin·ux A trademark for an open-source version of the UNIX operating system.

The purist definition says Linux is a kernel, and the trademark definintion says it's an operating system. Is there a difference between a kernel and an operating system? Yes, the kernel provides only the most basic core services for using your computer's hardware. If your computer hardware is the engine, the kernel is the gearbox. The kernel is a crucial component, but a computer with just a kernel is about as useful as an engine with just a gearbox. The operating system uses kernel services to provides other services which allow applications to run. There is a third definition of linux, which I would call:

The folk definition
This definition includes the kernel, the OS libraries, the GNU applications and the non-GNU applications... It includes everything that comes on the CD or in the box with a {some brand} logo such as Sun Java Desktop System Just as the vast majority of people celebrated the millenium one year early, conventional wisdom confuses GNU/linux with Linus' kernel and the Linux trademark. It also equates linux with open-source and can't always disinguish free beer from free speech. (Side note: both linux and Solaris are already free as in beer, however, Guinness is far from free here in Ireland.)

Finally there is:
The buzzword definition
Maybe you know a pointy-haired boss who strives to deploy {latest buzzword} on everything from bathroom fixtures to garden gnomes. When all you have is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail! Linux kernel expert Alan Cox was quoted by linux user magazine as saying, 'We want people to adopt Linux not because Linux is a buzzword but because it genuinely solves their problems.'

So depending on who you are, your definition of linux probably includes one or more of the following:

1. Linus Torvald's Kernel
2. GNU Operating system and libraries (libgnome, gnome-vfs, gdk, gtk...)
3. Open source applications (Nautilus, Mozilla, OpenOffice.org...)
4. Other Applications and libraries (StarOffice, Qt, Java...)

What does this have to do with Sun? Well it turns out that Sun contributes to, interoperates with and sells products which include every layer of this stack. When people truly understand the technology behind the buzzwords, I think they will find that linux and Solaris compete in a few markets, but complement each other in many more.

That was just one opinion on a very simple question. I'll let others answer such imponderables such as why is it called the Java Desktop System? ,how do you pronounce 'linux' and how do you pronounce GNOME?