Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by itsnotlupus 2585 days ago
Maybe if you know what the "GNU operating system" is, it's a great description.

As for me, I had to keep reading until I saw "Linux" to go "oh ok, it's a Linux distro and they're being a little weird about it because it's GNU/Linux, nevermind it's GNU. It's just GNU."
2 comments
brendyn 2585 days ago
You've presented yourself as a great example of the unfortunate misunderstanding that has come from people mistakenly calling GNU+Linux distributions Linux distributions. You were not able to recognize that this was a GNU distribution when then they called it GNU, until they mentioned Linux which is one thing Guix distributes. Then you suddenly (mis)understood what it was, and proceeded to blame the author for confusing you by speaking correctly instead of sharing the same misunderstanding.
link
itsnotlupus 2584 days ago
Sure, I knew exactly what I was doing by daring to use the popular parlance rather than the GNU/preferred nomenclature. Being labelled as "unfortunate" is certainly the least that I deserve for that transgression.

However, at no point did I blame anybody. Everybody here probably has very good reasons for doing what they do. The parent comment asked "what part of the above portions of copy fail to convey what Guix is?", and rather than equivocating around that profound mystery, I answered truthfully.

It's however perfectly acceptable to dismiss me and my comment and assert that there is nothing wrong with that website copy. For example, it may be doing a great job of self-selecting and separating the enlightened from the casuals.

link
adrianmalacoda 2585 days ago
They're not "being weird about it." It's explicitly not "a Linux distro" because they intend for the kernel to be just another freely interchangeable component (as is mentioned), although I suppose there might be some residual bitterness from their work constantly being called "Linux" or "a Linux distribution" as well.

This isn't unique to Guix System, either. Debian[0] refers to itself as "a free operating system (OS) for your computer" and doesn't even mention the term Linux on its home page, until you go to the about page[1], where it is mentioned (three paragraphs in!) that "Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel." The term "distribution" doesn't even appear until the very end, where it is mentioned that "Debian was begun in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution which would be made openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU."

Maybe, since the term "GNU distribution" is rather unorthodox, Guix System should just market itself as a free operating system, as Debian does.

[0] https://www.debian.org/

[1] https://www.debian.org/intro/about

link