Das GNU-Projekt (http://www.gnu.org) wurde 1983 gestartet, um ein vollständig freies Unix-artiges Betriebssystem zu entwickeln - das GNU-System.

„Frei“ ist dabei nicht im Sinne von „Freibier“ oder gar kostenlos zu verstehen. Die Freiheit besteht vielmehr darin, mit der Software (und dem Quellcode) alles tun zu dürfen. Die Software darf verschenkt oder verkauft werden, es darf damit Bio- oder Atomwaffenforschung betrieben werden, genauso ist der Einsatz in Schulen und Kindergärten erlaubt. Und vor allem: Der Quellcode ist einsehbar, und es ist erlaubt - und erwünscht - diesen zu ergänzen.

Varianten des GNU-Systems, die den Linux-Kernel verwenden, sind weit verbreitet; obwohl diese Systeme oft als „Linux“ bezeichnet werden, sollte man diese korrekter als GNU/Linux-Systeme bezeichnen.

Richard Stallman kündigte den Start des Projekts durch folgenden Text in den Newsgroups net.unix-wizards und net.usoft an:

From CSvax:pur-ee:inuxc!ixn5c!ihnp4!houxm!mhuxi!
     eagle!mit-vax!mit-eddie!RMS@MIT-OZ
From: RMS%MIT-OZ@mit-eddie
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards,net.usoft
Subject: new UNIX implementation
Date: Tue, 27-Sep-83 12:35:59 EST
Organization: MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA

Free Unix!

Starting this Thanksgiving I am going to write a complete
Unix-compatible software system called GNU (for Gnu's Not Unix), and
give it away free to everyone who can use it.  Contributions of time,
money, programs and equipment are greatly needed.

To begin with, GNU will be a kernel plus all the utilities needed to
write and run C programs: editor, shell, C compiler, linker,
assembler, and a few other things.  After this we will add a text
formatter, a YACC, an Empire game, a spreadsheet, and hundreds of
other things.  We hope to supply, eventually, everything useful that
normally comes with a Unix system, and anything else useful, including
on-line and hardcopy documentation.

GNU will be able to run Unix programs, but will not be identical
to Unix.  We will make all improvements that are convenient, based
on our experience with other operating systems.  In particular,
we plan to have longer filenames, file version numbers, a crashproof
file system, filename completion perhaps, terminal-independent
display support, and eventually a Lisp-based window system through
which several Lisp programs and ordinary Unix programs can share a screen.
Both C and Lisp will be available as system programming languages.
We will have network software based on MIT's chaosnet protocol,
far superior to UUCP.  We may also have something compatible
with UUCP.


Who Am I?

I am Richard Stallman, inventor of the original much-imitated EMACS
editor, now at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT.  I have worked
extensively on compilers, editors, debuggers, command interpreters, the
Incompatible Timesharing System and the Lisp Machine operating system.
I pioneered terminal-independent display support in ITS.  In addition I
have implemented one crashproof file system and two window systems for
Lisp machines.


Why I Must Write GNU

I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I
must share it with other people who like it.  I cannot in good
conscience sign a nondisclosure agreement or a software license
agreement.

So that I can continue to use computers without violating my principles,
I have decided to put together a sufficient body of free software so that
I will be able to get along without any software that is not free.


How You Can Contribute

I am asking computer manufacturers for donations of machines and money.
I'm asking individuals for donations of programs and work.

One computer manufacturer has already offered to provide a machine.  But
we could use more.  One consequence you can expect if you donate
machines is that GNU will run on them at an early date.  The machine had
better be able to operate in a residential area, and not require
sophisticated cooling or power.

Individual programmers can contribute by writing a compatible duplicate
of some Unix utility and giving it to me.  For most projects, such
part-time distributed work would be very hard to coordinate; the
independently-written parts would not work together.  But for the
particular task of replacing Unix, this problem is absent.  Most
interface specifications are fixed by Unix compatibility.  If each
contribution works with the rest of Unix, it will probably work
with the rest of GNU.

If I get donations of money, I may be able to hire a few people full or
part time.  The salary won't be high, but I'm looking for people for
whom knowing they are helping humanity is as important as money.  I view
this as a way of enabling dedicated people to devote their full energies to
working on GNU by sparing them the need to make a living in another way.


For more information, contact me.
Arpanet mail:
  RMS@MIT-MC.ARPA

Usenet:
  ...!mit-eddie!RMS@OZ
  ...!mit-vax!RMS@OZ

US Snail:
  Richard Stallman
  166 Prospect St
  Cambridge, MA 02139
                

Um die juristischen und organisatorischen Aspekte des GNU-Projekts zu betreuen und um die Verbreitung von und das Verständnis für Freie Software zu fördern, gründete sich die Free Software Foundation. Über die Free Software Foundation entstanden die GNU General Public License (GPL) und die GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL, ursprünglich GNU Library General Public License genannt), die sich weltweit als die meistverwandten Lizenzen für Freie Software etablieren konnten. Die wichtigste Bedingung dieser Lizenz ist sicherlich die Verpflichtung, dass alle aus einer unter GPL stehenden Software abgeleiten Arbeiten ebenfalls unter der GPL stehen müssen. Dieses „virulente“ Verhalten führt zu einer sehr starken Verbreitung dieser Lizenz und somit (durch den Einblick in den Quellcode) zur Veröffentlichung von Wissen auf breiter Basis.

Neben der GPL gibt es noch etliche andere Lizenzen, die sich als Lizenzen für Freie Software qualifizieren.

Das GNU-Projekt setzt sich aus Unterprojekten zusammen, die von Freiwilligen oder Unternehmen betreut werden und zumeist dem Erstellen und Pflegen einer funktionalen Komponente dienen. Diese Unterprojekte werden wiederum als „GNU-Projekte“ oder „offizielle GNU-Projekte“ bezeichnet.

Der Name des GNU-Projekts leitet sich von dem rekursiven Akronym „GNU's Not Unix“, zu Deutsch „GNU ist nicht Unix“ ab. Da Unix ursprünglich nicht nur eine Art von Betriebssystem, sondern auch ein kommerzielles Produkt bezeichnete, war diese Bezeichnung dazu gedacht, klar zu machen, dass das GNU-Projekt ein System schaffen soll, das zwar kompatibel zu, aber nicht identisch mit Unix ist.

Die Free Software Foundation (http://www.fsf.org/) ist eine steuerfreie, gemeinnützige Organisation, die Kapital für die Arbeit am GNU-Projekt aufbringt. Die FSF ist der hauptsächliche organisatorische Sponsor des GNU-Projekts. Das Ziel der FSF ist die Sicherung, der Schutz und die Förderung der Freiheit, Computer Software zu benutzen, zu studieren, zu kopieren, zu verändern und zu verteilen, und daneben will sie die Rechte der Benutzer von freier Software verteidigen.

Die FSF Europe (http://www.fsfeurope.org/) widmet sich den europäischen Aktivitäten im Bereich Freie Software. Als offizielle Schwesterorganisation der Free Software Foundation in den Vereinigten Staaten wird sie ihre Aktivitäten im Umkreis des GNU-Projekts konzentrieren, aber nicht auf diese beschränken. Die FSF Europe nahm am 10. März 2001 den Betrieb auf.

Die Hauptaufgaben der FSF Europe sind es, Initiativen freier Software in Europa zu koordinieren, ein Kompetenzzentrum für Politiker und Journalisten bereitzustellen und Infrastruktur für Freie-Software-Projekte und speziell das GNU-Projekt zur Verfügung zu stellen.

Leider ist heute nicht mehr der genaue Tag bekannt, an dem Linus Benedict Torvalds (alle Welt nennt ihn nur Linus, wundern Sie sich also nicht, wenn nicht immer der ganze Name genannt wird) mit der Entwicklung des Linux-Kernels begann. Jedoch lässt folgendes Posting aus dem Usenet schon recht genau auf die ersten Aktivitäten schließen:

 
From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds) 
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix 
Subject: Gcc-1.40 and a posix-question 
Message-ID: <1991Jul3.100050.9886@klaava.Helsinki.FI> 
Date: 3 Jul 91 10:00:50 GMT 
Hello netlanders, 
Due to a project I'm working on (in minix), I'm interested in the posix 
standard definition. Could somebody please point me to a (preferably) 
machine-readable format of the latest posix rules? Ftp-sites would be 
nice. 
                

Linus begann auf Basis von Minix mit der Entwicklung eines freien Unix-Kernels.

From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: What would you like to see most in minix?
Summary: small poll for my new operating system
Message-ID: <1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

Hello everybody out there using minix -
I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)
among other things).
I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work.
This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and
I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions
are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)
Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)
PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never
will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(.
                

Die erste Version des Linux-Kernels wurde von Linus Torvalds am 17. September 1991 im Usenet angekündigt. Bereits kurz darauf fanden sich einige kompetente Helfer, die begeistert an der Entwicklung teilnahmen.

Einen Überblick über die Geschichte der Linux-Entwicklung soll folgende Auflistung bieten:

Im Laufe der Jahre ist die weitere Entwicklung des Linux-Kernels weit fortgeschritten. Einen Überblick über die einzelnen Teile des Kernels bietet die Seite http://lug.oregonstate.edu/projects/kernelmap/map.php. Auf dieser Seite werden die Zusammenhänge der einzelnen Bausteine des Kernels dargestellt werden. Die Bereiche können auch vergrößert werden.

Am 29. Januar 1992 postete Professor Andrew Tanenbaum, der Entwickler von Minix, in der Newsgroup comp.os.minix einen Artikel, der sich zu einer längeren Diskussion ausweitete. Minix war zu dieser Zeit ein Unix-artiges Betriebssystem, das von Tanenbaum zu Lehrzwecken entwickelt wurde.

Hier nun das ursprüngliche Posting von Professor Tanenbaum; der interessierte Leser findet den kompletten Thread unter http://alge.anart.no/linux/history/linux_is_obsolete.txt.

From: ast@cs.vu.nl (Andy Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: LINUX is obsolete
Date: 29 Jan 92 12:12:50 GMT
Organization: Fac. Wiskunde & Informatica, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam


I was in the U.S. for a couple of weeks, so I haven't commented much on
LINUX (not that I would have said much had I been around), but for what 
it is worth, I have a couple of comments now.

As most of you know, for me MINIX is a hobby, something that I do in the
evening when I get bored writing books and there are no major wars,
revolutions, or senate hearings being televised live on CNN.  My real
job is a professor and researcher in the area of operating systems.

As a result of my occupation, I think I know a bit about where operating
are going in the next decade or so.  Two aspects stand out:

1. MICROKERNEL VS MONOLITHIC SYSTEM
   Most older operating systems are monolithic, that is, the whole operating
   system is a single a.out file that runs in 'kernel mode.'  This binary
   contains the process management, memory management, file system and the
   rest. Examples of such systems are UNIX, MS-DOS, VMS, MVS, OS/360, 
   MULTICS, and many more.

   The alternative is a microkernel-based system, in which most of the OS
   runs as separate processes, mostly outside the kernel.  They communicate
   by message passing.  The kernel's job is to handle the message passing,
   interrupt handling, low-level process management, and possibly the I/O.
   Examples of this design are the RC4000, Amoeba, Chorus, Mach, and the
   not-yet-released Windows/NT.

   While I could go into a long story here about the relative merits of the
   two designs, suffice it to say that among the people who actually design
   operating systems, the debate is essentially over.  Microkernels have won.
   The only real argument for monolithic systems was performance, and there
   is now enough evidence showing that microkernel systems can be just as
   fast as monolithic systems (e.g., Rick Rashid has published papers comparing
   Mach 3.0 to monolithic systems) that it is now all over but the shoutin`.

   MINIX is a microkernel-based system.  The file system and memory management
   are separate processes, running outside the kernel.  The I/O drivers are
   also separate processes (in the kernel, but only because the brain-dead
   nature of the Intel CPUs makes that difficult to do otherwise).  LINUX is
   a monolithic style system.  This is a giant step back into the 1970s.
   That is like taking an existing, working C program and rewriting it in
   BASIC.  To me, writing a monolithic system in 1991 is a truly poor idea.


2. PORTABILITY
   Once upon a time there was the 4004 CPU.  When it grew up it became an
   8008.  Then it underwent plastic surgery and became the 8080.  It begat
   the 8086, which begat the 8088, which begat the 80286, which begat the
   80386, which begat the 80486, and so on unto the N-th generation.  In
   the meantime, RISC chips happened, and some of them are running at over
   100 MIPS.  Speeds of 200 MIPS and more are likely in the coming years.
   These things are not going to suddenly vanish.  What is going to happen
   is that they will gradually take over from the 80x86 line.  They will
   run old MS-DOS programs by interpreting the 80386 in software.  (I even
   wrote my own IBM PC simulator in C, which you can get by FTP from
   ftp.cs.vu.nl =  192.31.231.42 in dir minix/simulator.)  I think it is a
   gross error to design an OS for any specific architecture, since that is
   not going to be around all that long.

   MINIX was designed to be reasonably portable, and has been ported from the
   Intel line to the 680x0 (Atari, Amiga, Macintosh), SPARC, and NS32016.
   LINUX is tied fairly closely to the 80x86.  Not the way to go.

Don`t get me wrong, I am not unhappy with LINUX.  It will get all the people
who want to turn MINIX in BSD UNIX off my back.  But in all honesty, I would
suggest that people who want a **MODERN** "free" OS look around for a 
microkernel-based, portable OS, like maybe GNU or something like that.


Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl)


P.S. Just as a random aside, Amoeba has a UNIX emulator (running in user
space), but it is far from complete.  If there are any people who would
like to work on that, please let me know.  To run Amoeba you need a few 386s,
one of which needs 16M, and all of which need the WD Ethernet card.
                

1996-1997 gab es große Verwirrung um den Begriff Linux. Das bei IDG Books erschienene Buch von Naba Barkakati, „Linux Secrets“ trug auf dem Cover den Text: „Linux is a registered trademark of William R. Della Croce, Jr.“. Tatsächlich hatte William R. Della Croce den Begriff Linux schützen lassen. Glücklicherweise klärte sich das Problem aber dadurch, dass die Rechte an Linus abgetreten wurden. Auch zu dieser Geschichte finden sich einige Dokumente im Netz:

Anfang 1996 waren einige Leute auf der Linux-Kernel-Mailingliste der Meinung, es sei Zeit für ein Linux-Logo oder ein Maskottchen.

Linus legte seine Vorstellungen in folgender Mail am 9. Mai 1996 dar:

Re: Linux Logo prototype.
Linus Torvalds (torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi)
Thu, 9 May 1996 17:48:56 +0300 (EET DST)

Somebody had a logo competition announcement, maybe people can send 
their ideas to a web-site.. 

Anyway, this one looks like the poor penguin is not really strong 
enough to hold up the world, and it's going to get squashed. Not a
good, positive logo, in that respect.. 

Now, when you think about penguins, first take a deep calming breath, 
and then think "cuddly". Take another breath, and think
"cute". Go back to "cuddly" for a while (and go on breathing), then 
think "contented". 

With me so far? Good.. 

Now, with penguins, (cuddly such), "contented" means it has either 
just gotten laid, or it's stuffed on herring. Take it from me, I'm an
expert on penguins, those are really the only two options. 

Now, working on that angle, we don't really want to be associated 
with a randy penguin (well, we do, but it's not politic, so we
won't), so we should be looking at the "stuffed to its brim with 
herring" angle here. 

So when you think "penguin", you should be imagining a slighly overweight 
penguin (*), sitting down after having gorged itself, and
having just burped. It's sitting there with a beatific smile - the world 
is a good place to be when you have just eaten a few gallons
of raw fish and you can feel another "burp" coming. 

(*) Not FAT, but you should be able to see that it's sitting down because 
it's really too stuffed to stand up. Think "bean bag" here. 

Now, if you have problems associating yourself with something that gets 
off by eating raw fish, think "chocolate" or something, but
you get the idea. 

Ok, so we should be thinking of a lovable, cuddly, stuffed penguin 
sitting down after having gorged itself on herring. Still with me? 

NOW comes the hard part. With this image firmly etched on your 
eyeballs, you then scetch a stylizied version of it. Not a lot of
detail - just a black brush-type outline (you know the effect you 
get with a brush where the thickness of the line varies). THAT
requires talent. Give people the outline, and they should say 
[ sickly sweet voice, babytalk almost ]"Ooh, what a cuddly penguin, I
bet he is just _stuffed_ with herring", and small children will 
jump up and down and scream "mommy mommy, can I have one too?". 

Then we can do a larger version with some more detail (maybe leaning 
against a globe of the world, but I don't think we really want
to give any "macho penguin" image here about Atlas or anything). That 
more detailed version can spank billy-boy to tears for all I
care, or play ice-hockey with the FreeBSD demon. But the simple, 
single penguin would be the logo, and the others would just be
that cuddly penguin being used as an actor in some tableau. 

Linus 
                

Die Meinungen ob, grade ein Pinguin geeignet wäre, Linux nach außen hin darzustellen, gingen auseinander. Es gab die verschiedensten Entwürfe in den verschiedensten Abwandlungen.

Abbildung 1.1. Tux - der Pinguin

Linus Torvalds setzte sich schlussendlich durch, und so kam es zu einem Pinguin als Logo für Linux. Folgendes Statement von Linus beendete schließlich die Diskussion:

Re: Linux Logo
Linus Torvalds (torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi)
Sun, 12 May 1996 09:39:19 +0300 (EET DST)
		        
Umm.. You don't have any gap to fill in.
			            
"Linus likes penguins". That's it. There was even a headline on it in some 
Linux Journal some time ago (I was bitten by a Killer Penguin in Australia - 
I'm not kidding). Penguins are fun.
					        
As to why use a penguin as a logo? No good reason, really. But a logo doesn't 
really ave to _mean_ anything - it's the association that counts. And I can 
think of many worse things than have linux being associated with penguins.
						            
Having a penguin as a logo also gives more freedom to people wanting to use 
linux-related material: instead of being firmly fixed with a specific logo 
(the triangle, or just "Linux 2.0" or some other abstract thing), using 
something like a penguin gives people the chance to make modifications that 
are still recognizable.
								        
So you can have a real live penguin on a CD cover, for example, and people 
will get the association. Or you can have a penguin that does something 
specific (a Penguin writing on wordperfect for the WP Linux CD, whatever - 
you get the idea).
									            
Compare that to a more abstract logo (like the windows logo - it's not a 
bad logo in itself). You can't really do anything with a logo like that. 
It just "is".
									        
Anyway, go to "http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/" for some nice
examples..

Linus
                

Nun brauchte das Kind noch einen Namen. Der erste Hinweis auf den Namen „ Tux“ findet sich in folgender E-Mail:

Re: Let's name the penguin! (was: Re: Linux 2.0 really _is_ released..) 
James Hughes (jamesh@interpath.com)
Mon, 10 Jun 1996 20:25:52 -0400
(T)orvolds (U)ni(X) -> TUX! 
                

Dieser Name wurde dann auch von der Community akzeptiert. Es gibt noch viele nette Geschichten um das Linux-Logo und den Kult, der sich darum entwickelt hat. Neben Stofftierchen und Schlüsselanhängern gibt es mittlerweile Linux-Pinguine in allen nur denkbaren Erscheinungsformen.