Whats the deal with GNU/Linux?

[Controlpanel]

I have seen these lists on the internet that say these are the only "free" Linux distributions. Does this somehow mean that other more widely used distributions are illegal or somehow not free?

Links to Other Free Software Sites - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

[Freedom]

Linux is an Open Source project that was originally developed and is still maintained a good bit by Linus Torvalds. He wanted to make something both secure and inexpensive. He thus created Linux. Since then, many people have decided to make millions of applications and most of those applications are compiled in what is called a distribution. The only people who charge for their distros is corporate distros that need to be able to fund their support, advertising, etc. Therefore, Linux is well maintained and made completely free by the community.

As for your question ab otu GNU; GNU is a license that allows you to share a product, use, and modify it in any way as long as the original developer and all who have developed before you get credit for their work.

Hope that helps a bit!

[Cabhan]

Freedom, you're almost right. GNU is a group / project. The GPL (which is by GNU) is the license.

@Controlpanel

This comes down to the concept of "free software". Some groups, such as the Free Software Foundation and GNU believe that all software should be free. "Freedom" in this case is generally defined by the GPL (General Public License), a popular open-source license (and the license that Linux is under), which grants all users of the software access to the source code and permission to modify and redistribute the source code.

While 99% of the software that Linux users use is open-source and free, there are some exceptions. For example, the NVIDIA and ATI graphics card drivers are proprietary (there are some free software projects trying to make their own drivers, but these drivers are not as advanced). Also, for instance, Doom 3 runs on Linux, but is proprietary.

In the FOSS (free / open-source software) world, we tend to use two expressions: "Free as in speech" (referring to free as in the rights spoken of above) and "Free as in beer" (referring to price). These correspond to the words "libre" and "gratis" in Spanish, for instance.

These lists you are finding probably are built using only free software. There are some people out there who are extraordinarily militant about using only free software (Richard Stallman, founder of GNU and head of the FSF is one of them). Most of us tend to be strongly in favor of free software, but are willing to use proprietary software if there is no comparable alternative.

Many distros may offer the use of using proprietary software. For instance, Ubuntu is Linux, and is primarily free software, but allows you to use the proprietary NVIDIA driver if you want.

As far as "free as in beer", Linux itself is 100% free. The terms of the GPL allow you to charge for your project so long as the source code is then made available. Most Linux distros are free in price, but there are those that are not (Xandros, some versions of Mandriva, etc.). These could be made up of free-as-in-speech software, however, just with a price tag (perhaps to cover a support contract, or some special software).

I hope that this clarifies some things.

[Freedom]

Freedom, you're almost right. GNU is a group / project. The GPL (which is by GNU) is the license.

Thanks for fixing that little mistake of mine!

And also, Cabhan, you rock for being the human dictionary that you are!
You indeed said everything I didn't and elaborated on what I did!

[oz]

Oh boy, I sure hope this thread isn't going to turn into another one of those "GNU/Linux vs Linux" debates!

[Controlpanel]

Ok thanks that helps I guess I understand so there is nothing illegal about using linux it's just that some people want all "free" software. because I was hoping on installing opensuse soon

[Freston]

I just wanted to add that of any given Linux distro a large part consists of the work of the Gnu project. Their work is an important part of your system. That is why some write Gnu/Linux. As Gnu argues: Linux is just the kernel.

Together they are a system.