{"id":6145,"date":"2023-02-16T11:09:40","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T11:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/?p=6145"},"modified":"2023-08-31T04:39:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T04:39:22","slug":"what-is-gnu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/","title":{"rendered":"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>GNU<\/strong> stands for the recursive acronym <strong>\u201cGNU\u2019s Not Unix\u201d<\/strong>. This name was chosen because, unlike <strong>Unix<\/strong>, <strong>GNU <\/strong>is an <strong>Open-Source<\/strong> <strong>Operating System<\/strong>. The goal of the <strong>GNU <\/strong>is to provide a completely <strong>free software<\/strong> Operating System that can be used on various Computer hardware. In this article, I will discuss <strong>what is GNU<\/strong>, its origin, components, and differences from <strong>Unix<\/strong>. So let\u2019s start.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#What_is_GNU\" >What is GNU?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#Free-software_Movement\" >Free-software Movement<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#Open_Sorce_Software\" >Open Sorce Software<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#A_brief_history_of_the_GNU_project\" >A brief history of the GNU project<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#Components_of_GNU\" >Components of GNU<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#GNU_vs_UNIX\" >GNU vs UNIX<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_GNU\" >Advantages and Disadvantages of GNU<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#GNU_Copyright_License\" >GNU Copyright &amp; License<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_GNU\"><\/span>What is GNU?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>What is GNU<\/strong>, it is an operating system that was designed to be a<strong> free <\/strong>and <strong>open-source<\/strong> replacement for the <strong>Unix operating system<\/strong>. It maintained a similar functionality but without ownership &amp; restrictive licensing terms of <strong>Unix<\/strong>. The original purpose of <strong>GNU<\/strong> was to create a f<strong>ree OS<\/strong> to give users the freedom to run, copy, distribute, modify, study, and improve the software as needed. So that individual users can modify the <strong>OS <\/strong>or change its components the way they want. The community of <strong>Linux<\/strong> works in the development &amp; improvement of the <strong>OS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6161\" src=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu-1.png\" alt=\"what is gnu\" width=\"300\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu-1.png 300w, https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu-1-767x478.png 767w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Free-software_Movement\"><\/span>Free-software Movement<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong>free software movement<\/strong> is a social movement and philosophy that advocates for the use and development of free software. In the 1980s, the beginning of this movement was founded, with the thinking of Richard Stallman on sharing computer knowledge and the works of programmers with everyone. Which was then legally formalized and licensed by <strong>Free Software Foundation (FSF)<\/strong>. The goal of this movement was to promote the use of software that respects the freedom and rights of users. Also, the <strong>main focus<\/strong> of the free movement is on<strong> software development<\/strong> and <strong>rejecting proprietary software<\/strong> that does not give the freedoms of free software.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Open_Sorce_Software\"><\/span>Open Sorce Software<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Open source software(OSS) <\/strong>is freely distributed with its source code available for everyone to use, modify, and distribute. This means that the code is open for all users to access and share with one another without any restrictions or costs. In <strong>OSS<\/strong>, the copyright holder of the software makes the software code available to the public. Since anyone can view and modify the software with original rights, programmers can make desirable changes and fix bugs. <strong>OSS<\/strong> organizations provide a <strong>license<\/strong> to ensure public modification and improvement of the software.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now, remember<strong> free software<\/strong> is a<strong> concept <\/strong>that <strong>focuses on the liberty of using software<\/strong>, <strong>not the price<\/strong>. That means although the main idea of <strong>OSS<\/strong> and<strong> free software<\/strong> seems to overlap they have differences. <strong>Every free software is open source but not necessarily every OSS is free software<\/strong>. And <strong>GNU <\/strong>is an <strong>Open-source free software<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_brief_history_of_the_GNU_project\"><\/span>A brief history of the GNU project<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong>GNU project<\/strong> was first launched by <strong>Richard Stallman<\/strong> in <strong>1983<\/strong>, with the aim to create a free and <strong>open-source<\/strong> operating system. The increasing use of <strong>copyrighted <\/strong>and <strong>patented <\/strong>software and the restrictions for users to use them made him think about creating a free for all operating system. The project\u2019s goal was to create a <strong>free software OS<\/strong> that was similar to <strong>Unix <\/strong>but not based on it, and neither it would have any restrictions like<strong> Unix<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Over the years, this <strong>project <\/strong>developed a variety of software components including a Kernel, compiler, text editor, and various utilities, libraries, and applications. Most of the developments were driven by volunteers who shared the stallman\u2019s vision. It also promoted the<strong> principles of free software<\/strong>, defended<strong> user freedom<\/strong> &amp;<strong> digital privacy<\/strong>, and developed <strong>GNU General Public License (GPL)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Components_of_GNU\"><\/span>Components of GNU<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The main components of a GNU system include the following,<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-list\" style=\"margin-left:20px\">\n<ul>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)<\/strong>\u2192This a collection of compilers for various programming languages, including <strong>C,<\/strong> <strong>C++<\/strong>, <strong>Forta<\/strong>, <strong>Ada<\/strong>, etc. <strong>GCC<\/strong> is widely used by developers to compile and build software for the <strong>GNU project<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>GNU Core Utilities (coreutils)<\/strong>\u2192This is a <strong>command-line<\/strong> collection used for managing files, processes, and other system tasks.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>GNU Debugger (GDB)<\/strong>\u2192It is a powerful tool for<strong> debugging<\/strong> software on the system.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Emacs text editor<\/strong>\u2192It is a powerful<strong> text editor<\/strong> that provides advanced features such as syntax highlighting, code completion, and support for multiple programming languages.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Bash(shell)<\/strong>\u2192This is the default command shell for the <strong>GNU system<\/strong>, which is a flexible &amp; efficient shell for creating scripts, executing commands, and automating tasks.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Binary utilities (binutils)<\/strong>\u2192This is a collection of binary tools such as <strong>ld<\/strong> <strong>(GNU linker)<\/strong>, <strong>as (GNU assembler)<\/strong>,<strong> gold (a new, faster, ELF-only linker<\/strong>), etc.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>GNU C library (glibc)<\/strong>\u2192It is a <strong>library<\/strong> of <strong>C programming<\/strong> to provide functions for memory management, and input\/output operations, used by the software system.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>GNU desktop environment (GNOME)<\/strong>\u2192It is the default desktop environment of many major Linux distributions consisting<strong> graphical user interface (GUI)<\/strong> and a set of computer applications for the users.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"GNU_vs_UNIX\"><\/span>GNU vs UNIX<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>GNU <\/strong>and <strong>Unix<\/strong> are both operating systems, but they have some significant differences. Well, <strong>GNU <\/strong>is a <strong>free<\/strong> &amp;<strong> open-source Unix-like operating system, but not Unix<\/strong>. See the below chart to see the key differences between them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-table su-table-responsive su-table-alternate su-table-fixed\">\n<table style=\"width: 100%;height: 260px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 26px\">\n<td style=\"width: 111.622px;height: 26px\" width=\"46\"><strong>SL. No.<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 260.452px;height: 26px\" width=\"110\"><strong>Differences<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 544.159px;height: 26px\" width=\"245\"><strong>GNU<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 434.862px;height: 26px\" width=\"195\"><strong>Unix<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 26px\">\n<td style=\"width: 111.622px;height: 26px\" width=\"46\"><strong>1<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 260.452px;height: 26px\" width=\"110\"><strong>Licensing<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 544.159px;height: 26px\" width=\"245\">Free and open-source (<strong>GNU GPL License<\/strong>)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 434.862px;height: 26px\" width=\"195\">Proprietary or Closed-source (required license)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 26px\">\n<td style=\"width: 111.622px;height: 26px\" width=\"46\"><strong>2<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 260.452px;height: 26px\" width=\"110\"><strong>Kernel<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 544.159px;height: 26px\" width=\"245\">GNU Hurd<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 434.862px;height: 26px\" width=\"195\">Various (e.g. <strong>Solaris, AIX, HP-UX<\/strong>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 52px\">\n<td style=\"width: 111.622px;height: 52px\" width=\"46\"><strong>3<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 260.452px;height: 52px\" width=\"110\"><strong>Origin<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 544.159px;height: 52px\" width=\"245\">Was developed by Richard Stallman.<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 434.862px;height: 52px\" width=\"195\">Was developed by Ken Thompson and Dennis Richie for Bell Labs.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 52px\">\n<td style=\"width: 111.622px;height: 52px\" width=\"46\"><strong>4<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 260.452px;height: 52px\" width=\"110\"><strong>Functionality<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 544.159px;height: 52px\" width=\"245\">The<strong> Shell software<\/strong> could not function itself as it needs a <strong>Kernel<\/strong> to interact with the hardware.<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 434.862px;height: 52px\" width=\"195\">The <strong>Unix<\/strong> is composed of both <strong>Kernel<\/strong> &amp; <strong>Shell<\/strong> and could function on its own.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 52px\">\n<td style=\"width: 111.622px;height: 52px\" width=\"46\"><strong>5<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 260.452px;height: 52px\" width=\"110\"><strong>User Control<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 544.159px;height: 52px\" width=\"245\">Focuses on giving users complete control over their computing environment.<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 434.862px;height: 52px\" width=\"195\">User control varies depending on the specific variant and licensing terms.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 26px\">\n<td style=\"width: 111.622px;height: 26px\" width=\"46\"><strong>6<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 260.452px;height: 26px\" width=\"110\"><strong>Logo<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 544.159px;height: 26px\" width=\"245\">It uses a dark antelope as the logo.<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 434.862px;height: 26px\" width=\"195\">It uses the plain text of its name as the logo.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_GNU\"><\/span>Advantages and Disadvantages of GNU<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The<strong> project<\/strong> has a lot of benefits for the users along with some shortcomings. I will give a list of them in the below section.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #800080; --darkreader-inline-color: #3d3db6;\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\"><strong>Advantages<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-list\" style=\"margin-left:20px\">\n<ul>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Cost<\/strong>, <strong>GNU<\/strong> is free software for users, which is a big advantage for all users all over the world.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Flexibility &amp; transparency<\/strong>, it is a flexible utility for users, also users can study and modify the source code.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Multitasking<\/strong>, it\u00a0is a <strong>multitasking OS<\/strong>. The scheduler, a part of the kernel tracks and allocates processor time accordingly to effectively run several programs simultaneously.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Stability<\/strong>, it\u00a0is stable &amp; reliable. As it has a large community, bug reports are easily found and resolved.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Open Source<\/strong>, it<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>is free &amp; it is an open-source operating system, which is one of its best advantages.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Security<\/strong>, it focuses on its security with many built-in security features &amp; tools.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Large Community<\/strong>, The <strong>GNU project<\/strong> has a large community of developers who provide support and resources, as well as many users as it is an open-source and free OS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080; --darkreader-inline-color: #3d3db6;\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\"><strong>Disadvantages<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-list\" style=\"margin-left:20px\">\n<ul>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Learning Curve, <\/strong>when a user is familiar with Windows or macOS, he\/she may find GNU difficult to use.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Lack of hardware support, <\/strong>even though a lot of hardware supports GNU still not all of them.<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-arrow-right\" style=\"color:#000000\"><\/i> <strong>Familiar software, <\/strong>Users might miss using familiar applications such as MS Office or Adobe creative suite while using the Unix-like system.<\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"GNU_Copyright_License\"><\/span>GNU Copyright &amp; License<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The aim of the<strong>\u00a0project<\/strong> was to create a <strong>completely free OS<\/strong> and software ecosystem which includes the <strong>GNU General Public License (GPL)<\/strong> and other licenses which ensure users\u2019 freedom to copy or distribute software. Nowadays many popular free and <strong>open-source software projects <\/strong>have accepted\u00a0<strong>GPL<\/strong> as the<strong> free software license.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong>GNU project<\/strong> also promotes the concept of <strong>copyleft<\/strong>, which is a licensing mechanism that releases derivative works under the same or similar license as the original work.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In this article, I tried discussing <strong>what is GNU project<\/strong>, how the project started, the concepts of free software and open-source software, and the components of the system. If you read the full article, hope you will get a complete overview of the <strong>project<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; color: #000080;\" data-darkreader-inline-color=\"\">Similar Readings<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/environment-in-linux\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Environment in Linux [An Ultimate Guide]<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/distribution-in-linux\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What is Distribution in Linux? [A Complete Overview]<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-grub-in-linux\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What is GRUB in Linux? [Process, Interfaces &amp; Models]<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-auto kksr-align-center kksr-valign-bottom\"\n    data-payload='{&quot;align&quot;:&quot;center&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;6145&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;default&quot;,&quot;valign&quot;:&quot;bottom&quot;,&quot;ignore&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;reference&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;count&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;legendonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;readonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;starsonly&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;best&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;gap&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;greet&quot;:&quot;Rate this post&quot;,&quot;legend&quot;:&quot;0\\\/5 - (0 votes)&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;_legend&quot;:&quot;{score}\\\/{best} - ({count} {votes})&quot;,&quot;font_factor&quot;:&quot;1.25&quot;}'>\n            \n<div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n<div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 0px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" style=\"padding-right: 5px\">\n            \n\n<div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 24px; height: 24px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n                \n\n<div class=\"kksr-legend\" style=\"font-size: 19.2px;\">\n            <span class=\"kksr-muted\">Rate this post<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GNU stands for the recursive acronym \u201cGNU\u2019s Not Unix\u201d. This name was chosen because, unlike Unix, GNU is an Open-Source &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#more-6145\" aria-label=\"Read more about What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":314897,"featured_media":6162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-6145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-linux-glossary","tag-linux-terminology","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The GNU project is an open-source Operating System, the result of the first free software movement founded by Richard Stallman in the 1980s.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The GNU project is an open-source Operating System, the result of the first free software movement founded by Richard Stallman in the 1980s.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LinuxSimply\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/moniramunny05\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-16T11:09:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-31T04:39:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Monira Akter Munny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Monira Akter Munny\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Monira Akter Munny\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d8ccee92571d892b55ef5999761fc9e\"},\"headline\":\"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-16T11:09:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-31T04:39:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1360,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/what-is-gnu.png\",\"keywords\":[\"linux terminology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Linux Glossary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/\",\"name\":\"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/what-is-gnu.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-16T11:09:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-31T04:39:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"The GNU project is an open-source Operating System, the result of the first free software movement founded by Richard Stallman in the 1980s.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/what-is-gnu.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/what-is-gnu.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"what is GNU?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/what-is-gnu\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"LinuxSimply\",\"description\":\"All About Linux\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"LinuxSimply\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/LinuxSimply-New-Logo-Without-Icon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/LinuxSimply-New-Logo-Without-Icon.png\",\"width\":355,\"height\":48,\"caption\":\"LinuxSimply\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d8ccee92571d892b55ef5999761fc9e\",\"name\":\"Monira Akter Munny\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Monira-Akter-Munny-II-96x96.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Monira-Akter-Munny-II-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Monira-Akter-Munny-II-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Monira Akter Munny\"},\"description\":\"Hello!! This is Monira Akter Munny. I'm a Linux content developer executive here, at SOFTEKO company. I have completed my B.Sc. in Engineering from Rajshahi University of Engineering &amp; Technology in the Electrical &amp; Electronics department. I'm more of an online gaming person who also loves to read blogs &amp; write. As an open-minded person ready to learn &amp; adapt to new territory, I'm always excited to explore the Linux world &amp; share it with you! Read Full Bio\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/moniramunny05\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/monira_munny\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/monira-akter-munny-a76742113\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/linuxsimply.com\\\/author\\\/munny\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]","description":"The GNU project is an open-source Operating System, the result of the first free software movement founded by Richard Stallman in the 1980s.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]","og_description":"The GNU project is an open-source Operating System, the result of the first free software movement founded by Richard Stallman in the 1980s.","og_url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/","og_site_name":"LinuxSimply","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/moniramunny05","article_published_time":"2023-02-16T11:09:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-31T04:39:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Monira Akter Munny","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Monira Akter Munny","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/"},"author":{"name":"Monira Akter Munny","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d8ccee92571d892b55ef5999761fc9e"},"headline":"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]","datePublished":"2023-02-16T11:09:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-31T04:39:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/"},"wordCount":1360,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu.png","keywords":["linux terminology"],"articleSection":["Linux Glossary"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/","url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/","name":"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu.png","datePublished":"2023-02-16T11:09:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-31T04:39:22+00:00","description":"The GNU project is an open-source Operating System, the result of the first free software movement founded by Richard Stallman in the 1980s.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/what-is-gnu.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"what is GNU?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/what-is-gnu\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is GNU? [Origin, Components, License]"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/","name":"LinuxSimply","description":"All About Linux","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#organization","name":"LinuxSimply","url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/LinuxSimply-New-Logo-Without-Icon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/LinuxSimply-New-Logo-Without-Icon.png","width":355,"height":48,"caption":"LinuxSimply"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2d8ccee92571d892b55ef5999761fc9e","name":"Monira Akter Munny","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Monira-Akter-Munny-II-96x96.png","url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Monira-Akter-Munny-II-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Monira-Akter-Munny-II-96x96.png","caption":"Monira Akter Munny"},"description":"Hello!! This is Monira Akter Munny. I'm a Linux content developer executive here, at SOFTEKO company. I have completed my B.Sc. in Engineering from Rajshahi University of Engineering &amp; Technology in the Electrical &amp; Electronics department. I'm more of an online gaming person who also loves to read blogs &amp; write. As an open-minded person ready to learn &amp; adapt to new territory, I'm always excited to explore the Linux world &amp; share it with you! Read Full Bio","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/moniramunny05","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/monira_munny\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/monira-akter-munny-a76742113\/"],"url":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/author\/munny\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/314897"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linuxsimply.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}