No, Richard, it's 'Linux', not 'GNU/Linux'. The most important contributions
that the FSF made to Linux were the creation of the GPL and the GCC compiler.
Those are fine and inspired products. GCC is a monumental achievement and has
earned you, RMS, and the Free Software Foundation countless kudos and much
appreciation.

Following are some reasons for you to mull over, including some already
answered in your FAQ. One guy, Linus Torvalds, used GCC to make his operating
system (yes, Linux is an OS -- more on this later). He named it 'Linux' with a
little help from his friends. Why doesn't he call it GNU/Linux? Because he
wrote it, with more help from his friends, not you. You named your stuff, I
named my stuff -- including the software I wrote using GCC -- and Linus named
his stuff. The proper name is Linux because Linus Torvalds says so. Linus has
spoken. Accept his authority. To do otherwise is to become a nag. You don't
want to be known as a nag, do you?

(An operating system) != (a distribution). Linux is an operating system. By my
definition, an operating system is that software which provides and limits
access to hardware resources on a computer. That definition applies wherever
you see Linux in use. However, Linux is usually distributed with a collection
of utilities and applications to make it easily configurable as a desktop
system, a server, a development box, or a graphics workstation, or whatever the
user needs. In such a configuration, we have a Linux (based) distribution.
Therein lies your strongest argument for the unwieldy title 'GNU/Linux' (when
said bundled software is largely from the FSF). Go bug the distribution makers
on that one. Take your beef to Red Hat, Mandrake, and Slackware. At least there
you have an argument. Linux alone is an operating system that can be used in
various applications without any GNU software whatsoever. Embedded applications
come to mind as an obvious example.

Next, even if we limit the GNU/Linux title to the GNU-based Linux
distributions, we run into another obvious problem. XFree86 may well be more
important to a particular Linux installation than the sum of all the GNU
contributions. More properly, shouldn't the distribution be called
XFree86/Linux? Or, at a minimum, XFree86/GNU/Linux? Of course, it would be
rather arbitrary to draw the line there when many other fine contributions go
unlisted. Yes, I know you've heard this one before. Get used to it. You'll keep
hearing it until you can cleanly counter it.

You seem to like the lines-of-code metric. There are many lines of GNU code in
a typical Linux distribution. You seem to suggest that (more LOC) == (more
important). However, I submit to you that raw LOC numbers do not directly
correlate with importance. I would suggest that clock cycles spent on code is a
better metric. For example, if my system spends 90% of its time executing
XFree86 code, XFree86 is probably the single most important collection of code
on my system. Even if I loaded ten times as many lines of useless bloatware on
my system and I never executed that bloatware, it certainly isn't more
important code than XFree86. Obviously, this metric isn't perfect either, but
LOC really, really sucks. Please refrain from using it ever again in supporting
any argument.

Last, I'd like to point out that we Linux and GNU users shouldn't be fighting
among ourselves over naming other people's software. But what the heck, I'm in
a bad mood now. I think I'm feeling sufficiently obnoxious to make the point
that GCC is so very famous and, yes, so very useful only because Linux was
developed. In a show of proper respect and gratitude, shouldn't you and
everyone refer to GCC as 'the Linux compiler'? Or at least, 'Linux GCC'?
Seriously, where would your masterpiece be without Linux? Languishing with the
HURD?

If there is a moral buried in this rant, maybe it is this. Be grateful for your
abilities and your incredible success and your considerable fame. Continue to
use that success and fame for good, not evil. Also, be especially grateful for
Linux' huge contribution to that success. You, RMS, the Free Software
Foundation, and GNU software have reached their current high profiles largely
on the back of Linux. You have changed the world. Now, go forth and don't be a
nag.

Thanks for listening.

source: https://old.reddit.com/r/linuxmasterrace/comments/51t7z6/calling_all_linux_copypastas/d7fdkao