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- GNU project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>The
<h2>About GNU</h2>
<div class="thin"></div>

<div class="comment">
<p>This page lists a series of articles related to the GNU Project and
the GNU Operating System</h2> System. They are arranged in reverse chronological
order. Items marked with an asterisk are recommended reads.</p>
</div> 

<div id="dynamic-duo"> class="short-lines"> <ul class="no-bullet"> 
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fabout-gnu.html&mode=full">GNU in a Nutshell</a></li>
</ul></div>

<div id="dynamic-duo" class="pict narrow">
<p><strong>Download distributions</strong></p>
<p><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fdistros%2Ffree-distros.html&mode=full">
<img src="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgraphics%2Fgnu-and-penguin-color-300x276.jpg&mode=full" alt="GNU alt=" [GNU and Linux" Linux] " /></a></p>
<p><em>If you're looking for a whole system to
install, see our <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fdistros%2Ffree-distros.html&mode=full">list of
GNU/Linux distributions which are entirely free software</a>.</em></p>
</div>

<ul>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fabout-gnu.html&mode=full">About the GNU Operating System</a></li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fgnu-history.html&mode=full">A historical overview of GNU</a></li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fthegnuproject.html&mode=full">A more detailed history of GNU</a></li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Finitial-announcement.html&mode=full">The initial announcement</a>
      of the project</li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fmanifesto.html&mode=full">The GNU Manifesto</a></li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fbyte-interview.html&mode=full">BYTE interview with Richard
      Stallman</a> (1986)</li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Frms-lisp.html&mode=full">My

<div class="short-lines">
<h3 id="gnu-history">GNU History</h3>
<ul class="no-bullet"> 
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[2003]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Frms-lisp.html&mode=full">
      My Lisp Experiences and the Development of GNU Emacs</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)</li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fgst%2Ffullpage.html%3Fres%3D950DEFDE123AF932A25752C0A96F948260%26amp%3Bsec%3D%26amp%3Bspon%3D%26amp%3Bpagewanted%3D1&mode=full">
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[1999]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fphilosophy%2F15-years-of-free-software.html&mode=full">
      15 Years of Free Software</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)</li>
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[1999]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fbyte-interview.html&mode=full">
      BYTE interview with Richard Stallman</a></li> 
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[1998]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fthegnuproject.html&mode=full">
      The GNU Project</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)
      — A more detailed history of GNU.</li>   
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[1996]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fgnu-history.html&mode=full">
      Overview of the GNU System</a></li>
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[1989]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20210820153013%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F1989%2F01%2F11%2Fbusiness%2Fbusiness-technology-one-man-s-fight-for-free-software.html&mode=full">
      One Man's Fight for Free Software</a>, an Software</a>
      (by John Markoff) 
      — An article about Richard
      Stallman and the early GNU development, published at <cite>The
      New York Times</cite> on January 11, 1989. One problem with the
      article is that it uses the propaganda term “intellectual
      property” as if that referred to something coherent.  The
      term is such a confusion that talking about it <a
      href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fphilosophy%2Fnot-ipr.html&mode=full">makes no sense</a>. The article
      is also somewhat confused in regard to Symbolics.  What Stallman
      did, while still working at MIT, was to write, independently,
      replacement improvements comparable to the improvements that
      Symbolics made in its version of the MIT Lisp Machine
      System.</li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fphilosophy%2F15-years-of-free-software.html&mode=full">15 Years     
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[1985]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fmanifesto.html&mode=full">
      The GNU Manifesto</a></li>      
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[1984]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Ffirst-hackers-conference-1984.html&mode=full">
      First Hackers Conference</a></li>                
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[1983]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Finitial-announcement.html&mode=full">
      Initial Announcement</a> of Free Software</a> (1999)</li> the GNU Project</li>  
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[1983]</span>'
   --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
   <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Froad-to-gnu.html&mode=full">
      The Road to GNU</a>
      — Richard Stallman describes the experiences that
      prepared him to fight for a free software world.</li>          
</ul>

<p>Here are two postings that Stallman wrote for a bulletin board at
Stanford while he was visiting there in May, 1983.  They show some of
his thinking on the way towards launching the development of the GNU
system.  They don't use the term “free software”;
apparently he had not yet started to put those two words together.</p>

<ul>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fwhy-programs-should-be-shared.html&mode=full">Why

<ul class="no-bullet"> 
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[1983]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fwhy-programs-should-be-shared.html&mode=full">
      Why Programs Should be Shared</a> (1983)</li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fyes-give-it-away.html&mode=full">Yes, Shared</a></li>
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[1983]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fyes-give-it-away.html&mode=full">
      Yes, Give It Away</a>
  (1983)</li> Away</a></li>
</ul>


<h3><a id="gnulinux"></a>GNU

<h3 id="gnu-structure">GNU Structure</h3>

<ul class="no-bullet"> 
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[2020]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fgnu-structure.html&mode=full">
      The Structure and Linux</h3>

<ul>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Flinux-and-gnu.html&mode=full">The relationship between Administration of the GNU Project</a>
      (by Brandon Invergo and Linux</a></li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fwhy-gnu-linux.html&mode=full">Why the ‘Linux
      system’ should be called GNU/Linux</a></li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fgnu-users-never-heard-of-gnu.html&mode=full">GNU Richard Stallman)</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="gnulinux">GNU and Linux</h3>

<ul class="no-bullet"> 
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[2018]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fincorrect-quotation.html&mode=full">
      Incorrect Quotation</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)</li>
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag">[2006]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fgnu-users-never-heard-of-gnu.html&mode=full">
      GNU Users Who Have Never Heard of GNU</a></li>
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fgnu-linux-faq.html&mode=full">A GNU</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)</li>    
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[2001]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fgnu-linux-faq.html&mode=full">
      A GNU/Linux FAQ</a></li> FAQ</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)</li>    
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[2000]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Fwhy-gnu-linux.html&mode=full">
      What's in a Name?</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)
      — Why the “Linux system” should be called GNU/Linux.</li>  
  <li><!--#set var='DATE' value='<span class="date-tag"><span>*</span>[1997]</span>'
  --><!--#echo encoding='none' var='DATE' -->
    <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnu.org%2Fgnu%2Flinux-and-gnu.html&mode=full">
      Linux and the GNU System</a>
      (by Richard Stallman)
      — The relationship between GNU and Linux.</li>  
</ul>


<h3><a id="misc"></a>Other

<h3 id="misc">Other GNU-related resources</h3>

<ul>

<ul class="no-bullet"> 
  <li><a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=http%3A%2F%2Flibreplanet.org%2Fwiki%2FGroup_list&mode=full">GNU/Linux,
      GNU/Hurd, and free software user groups</a></li>
</ul>

<h3 id="elsewhere">GNU elsewhere</h3>

<h4 id="asteroid">(9965) GNU</h4>

<p>Main-belt
asteroid <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.minorplanetcenter.net%2Fdb_search%2Fshow_object%3Fobject_id%3D9965&mode=full">(9965)
GNU</a>, provisionally designated as 1992 EF<sub>2</sub>, was named
after the GNU project in
the <a href="/api/v1/web-embed/proxy?proxyUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.minorplanetcenter.net%2Fiau%2FECS%2FMPCArchive%2F2000%2FMPC_20001111.pdf&mode=full">Minor
Planet Circular 41571</a>. The asteroid was discovered at Kitt Peak by
Spacewatch on the 5<sup>th</sup> March 1992.</p>
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