Re: GPLv3 comedy unfolding -- raya's research on "The Four Freedoms"

[David Kastrup]

Stefaan A Eeckels <hoendech@ecc.lu> writes:

> On Fri,  6 Oct 2006 19:10:53 +0200 (CEST)
> "Alfred M. Szmidt" <ams@gnu.org> wrote:
>
>>    I am not saying it was an established definition.  I am saying that
>>    is was used pretty much synonymously.
>> 
>> And I'm saying that it was not used synonymously in most circles,
>> maybe in your circles.  And in those days the term "kernel" wasn't
>> even that used much, the operating system included everything you
>> needed to use the computer (editors, compilers, and what not).
>
> Even before the 80s, "kernel" was a widely used and fairly
> well-defined term. From Ralston's "Encyclopedia of Computer Science
> and Engineering", 2nd Edition (Copyright © 1983 Van Nostrand
> Reinhold):
>
> "The term /kernel/ (and sometimes /nucleus/) is applied to the set
> of programs in an operating system which implement the most
> primitive of that system's functions. The precise interpretation of
> kernel programs, of course, depends on the system; however, typical
> kernels contain programs for four types of functions:
>
>  1. /Process management/ (description elided)
>  2. /Memory management/ (description elided)
>  3. /Basic I/O control/ (description elided)
>  4. /Security/ (description elided)
>
> In some systems, the kernel is larger and provides for more than
> these classes of functions. In others, it is smaller."

[...]

In order to add more data into the fray, we get

3 definitions found

>From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  operating system
       n : (computer science) software that controls the execution of
           computer programs and may provide various services [syn:
           {OS}]

>From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  operating system n. [techspeak] (Often abbreviated `OS') The
     foundation software of a machine; that which schedules tasks, allocates
     storage, and presents a default interface to the user between
     applications. The facilities an operating system provides and its
     general design philosophy exert an extremely strong influence on
     programming style and on the technical cultures that grow up around its
     host machines. Hacker folklore has been shaped primarily by the
     {{Unix}}, {{ITS}}, {{TOPS-10}}, {{TOPS-20}}/{{TWENEX}}, {{WAITS}},
     {{CP/M}}, {{MS-DOS}}, and {{Multics}} operating systems (most
     importantly by ITS and Unix).
  
  

>From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  operating system
       
          <operating system> (OS) The low-level {software} which handles
          the interface to {peripheral} {hardware}, schedules {tasks},
          allocates {storage}, and presents a default {interface} to the
          user when no {application program} is running.
       
          The OS may be split into a {kernel} which is always present
          and various system programs which use facilities provided by
          the kernel to perform higher-level {house-keeping} tasks,
          often acting as {servers} in a {client-server} relationship.
       
          Some would include a {graphical user interface} and {window
          system} as part of the OS, others would not.  The {operating
          system loader}, {BIOS}, or other {firmware} required at {boot
          time} or when installing the operating system would generally
          not be considered part of the operating system, though this
          distinction is unclear in the case of a {rommable operating
          system} such as {RISC OS}.
       
          The facilities an operating system provides and its general
          design philosophy exert an extremely strong influence on
          programming style and on the technical cultures that grow up
          around the machines on which it runs.
       
          Example operating systems include {386BSD}, {AIX}, {AOS},
          {Amoeba}, {Angel}, {Artemis microkernel}, {BeOS}, {Brazil},
          {COS}, {CP/M}, {CTSS}, {Chorus}, {DACNOS}, {DOSEXEC 2},
          {GCOS}, {GEORGE 3}, {GEOS}, {ITS}, {KAOS}, {Linux}, {LynxOS},
          {MPV}, {MS-DOS}, {MVS}, {Mach}, {Macintosh operating system},
          {Microsoft Windows}, {MINIX}, {Multics}, {Multipop-68},
          {Novell NetWare}, {OS-9}, {OS/2}, {Pick}, {Plan 9}, {QNX},
          {RISC OS}, {STING}, {System V}, {System/360}, {TOPS-10},
          {TOPS-20}, {TRUSIX}, {TWENEX}, {TYMCOM-X}, {Thoth}, {Unix},
          {VM/CMS}, {VMS}, {VRTX}, {VSTa}, {VxWorks}, {WAITS}.
       
          {FAQ
          (ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/news-info/comp.os.research)}.
       
          {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.os.research}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1999-06-09)
       

Well, except for the last definition, this very much defines
"operating system" as "kernel", and even the last definition does not
actually make things like the UNIX text utilities (part of GNU) a part
of an operating system: it's more centered about kernel threads and
system daemons.

If we try the same for "kernel", the respective dictionaries are
mostly ignorant of the computing definition, except for one entry
reading

5 definitions found

>From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

[...]

>From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

[...]

>From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

[...]

  130 Moby Thesaurus words for "kernel":

[...]

>From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  kernel
       
          (Note: NOT "kernal").
       
          1. <operating system> The essential part of {Unix} or other
          {operating system}s, responsible for resource allocation,
          low-level hardware interfaces, security etc.  See also
          {microkernel}.
       
          2. <language> An essential subset of a programming language,
          in terms of which other constructs are (or could be) defined.
          Also known as a {core} language.
       
          (1996-06-07)


And as soon as the term "kernel" gets into focus, it gains the
definition used otherwise for "operating system", and "operating
system" starts meaning something else.

Must be some sort of Pauli exclusion principle at work here.

Anyway, to get back at the original mess: while it appears that
"operating system" has in the course of its history being "expanded"
from a meaning implying just kernel and system threads/services, it is
pretty obvious that "The GNU operating system" provides us with a
different quality of language evolution aka Newspeak: it applies to a
system _without_ a kernel of its own.

As I said: the name business has indeed helped getting info and
recognition to the masses that was sorely lacking.  But I consider it
a stretch, anyway.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum