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<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="author" href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/graphics/gnu-head-mini.png" /> <meta name="ICBM" content="42.355469,-71.058627" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/layout.min.css" media="screen" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/print.min.css" media="print" />   <title>About the GNU Operating System - GNU project - Free Software Foundation</title> <style type="text/css" media="print,screen"></style>  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="/gnu/gnu.html" hreflang="x-default" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="en" hreflang="en" href="/gnu/gnu.en.html" title="English" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" href="/gnu/gnu.ar.html" title="العربية" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" href="/gnu/gnu.bg.html" title="български" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" href="/gnu/gnu.ca.html" title="català" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="de" hreflang="de" href="/gnu/gnu.de.html" title="Deutsch" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="el" hreflang="el" href="/gnu/gnu.el.html" title="ελληνικά" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="es" hreflang="es" href="/gnu/gnu.es.html" title="español" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" href="/gnu/gnu.fr.html" title="français" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" href="/gnu/gnu.hr.html" title="hrvatski" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="it" hreflang="it" href="/gnu/gnu.it.html" title="italiano" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" href="/gnu/gnu.ja.html" title="日本語" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" href="/gnu/gnu.ko.html" title="한국어" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ml" hreflang="ml" href="/gnu/gnu.ml.html" title="മലയാളം" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" href="/gnu/gnu.nl.html" title="Nederlands" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" href="/gnu/gnu.pl.html" title="polski" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="pt-br" hreflang="pt-br" href="/gnu/gnu.pt-br.html" title="português" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" href="/gnu/gnu.ru.html" title="русский" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="sq" hreflang="sq" href="/gnu/gnu.sq.html" title="Shqip" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" href="/gnu/gnu.sr.html" title="српски" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" href="/gnu/gnu.tr.html" title="Türkçe" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" href="/gnu/gnu.uk.html" title="українська" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="zh-cn" hreflang="zh-cn" href="/gnu/gnu.zh-cn.html" title="简体中文" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="zh-tw" hreflang="zh-tw" href="/gnu/gnu.zh-tw.html" title="繁體中文" />    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/server/banners/fundraiser.css" media="screen" /> <style type="text/css" media="screen"></style> <style type="text/css" media="screen">  #fundraiser { direction: ltr; } </style>  </head> <body> <div class="inner">  <div id="top"> <p><a class="skip" href="#content"><b>Skip to main text</b></a></p> </div> <div id='fundraiser'> <div class="message"> <p class="headline"><b>Come build a better world with us!</b></p> <p><a href="https://my.fsf.org/donate?mtm_campaign=fall24&mtm_source=banner">Please don't scroll past this. 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Donate to help us reach the goal of USD $400,000 by Dec 31.<span class="gnun-split"></span></a></p> <p class="button"><a href="https://my.fsf.org/donate?mtm_campaign=fall24&mtm_source=banner">Donate<span class="gnun-split"></span></a> </p> <div style="clear: both"></div> </div> <div class="progress"> <div class="progress-bar"><span class="percentage">$38,694</span></div> <span class="goal">$400,000<span class="gnun-split"></span> </span> </div> </div> <div style="clear: both"></div> <div id="header" role="banner"> <p id="gnu-banner"> <a href="/"> <img src="/graphics/heckert_gnu.transp.small.png" height="48" width="49" alt=" [A GNU head] " /><strong>GNU</strong> <span class="hide">Operating System</span></a><br /> <small id="fsf-support">Supported by the <a href="#mission-statement">Free Software Foundation</a></small> </p> <div id="switches"> <div id="search-button" class="switch"> <a href="//www.gnu.org/cgi-bin/estseek.cgi"> <img id="search-icon" height="30" width="30" src="/graphics/icons/search.png" alt=" [Search www.gnu.org] " /></a> </div> <div id="language-button" class="switch"> <a href="#language-container"> <img id="language-icon" height="30" width="37" src="/graphics/icons/translations.png" alt=" [Other languages] " /></a> </div> </div> </div>   <div style="clear: both"></div> <div id="navigation" role="navigation"> <a id="more-links" href="#navigation" title="More..."> <span>Site navigation</span></a> <a id="less-links" href="#content"><b>Skip</b></a> <ul> <li id="tabAboutGNU" class="active"> <span class='no-display'>=</span> <a href="/gnu/gnu.html">ABOUT GNU</a> <span class="gnun-split"></span> <span class='no-display'>=</span> </li> <li id="tabPhilosophy"><a href="/philosophy/philosophy.html">PHILOSOPHY</a></li> <li id="tabLicenses"><a href="/licenses/licenses.html">LICENSES</a></li> <li id="tabEducation"><a href="/education/education.html">EDUCATION</a></li> <li id="tabSoftware"><a href="/software/software.html">SOFTWARE</a></li> <li id="tabDistros"><a href="/distros/distros.html">DISTROS</a></li> <li id="tabDoc"><a href="/doc/doc.html">DOCS</a></li> <li id="tabMalware"><a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">MALWARE</a></li> <li id="tabHelp"><a href="/help/help.html">HELP GNU</a></li> <li id="tabAV"><a href="/audio-video/audio-video.html">AUDIO & VIDEO</a></li> <li id="tabArt"><a href="/graphics/graphics.html">GNU ART</a></li> <li id="tabFun"><a href="/fun/humor.html">FUN</a></li> <li id="tabPeople"><a href="/people/people.html">GNU'S WHO?</a></li> <li><a href="//directory.fsf.org">SOFTWARE DIRECTORY</a></li> <li><a href="https://h-node.org/">HARDWARE</a></li> <li><a href="/server/sitemap.html">SITEMAP</a></li> </ul> <div style="clear: both"></div> </div>  <div id="content" role="main">  <h2>About the GNU Operating System</h2> <div class="thin"></div> <div class="short-lines"><ul> <li><a href="/gnu/about-gnu.html">GNU in a Nutshell</a></li> </ul></div> <div id="dynamic-duo" class="pict narrow"> <p><strong>Download distributions</strong></p> <p><a href="/distros/free-distros.html"> <img src="/graphics/gnu-and-penguin-color-300x276.jpg" alt=" [GNU and Linux] " /></a></p> <p><em>If you're looking for a whole system to install, see our <a href="/distros/free-distros.html">list of GNU/Linux distributions which are entirely free software</a>.</em></p> </div> <div class="short-lines"> <h3 id="gnu-history">GNU History</h3> <ul> <li><span class="date-tag">*[1996]</span> <a href="/gnu/gnu-history.html"> Overview of the GNU System</a></li> <li><span class="date-tag">*[1998]</span> <a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.html"> The GNU Project</a> (by Richard Stallman) — A more detailed history of GNU.</li> <li><span class="date-tag">*[1985]</span> <a href="/gnu/manifesto.html"> The GNU Manifesto</a></li> <li><span class="date-tag">*[1984]</span> <a href="/gnu/first-hackers-conference-1984.html"> First Hackers Conference</a></li> <li><span class="date-tag">*[1983]</span> <a href="/gnu/initial-announcement.html"> Initial Announcement</a> of the GNU Project</li> <li><span class="date-tag">[2003]</span> <a href="/gnu/rms-lisp.html"> My Lisp Experiences and the Development of GNU Emacs</a> (by Richard Stallman)</li> <li><span class="date-tag">[1999]</span> <a href="/philosophy/15-years-of-free-software.html"> 15 Years of Free Software</a> (by Richard Stallman)</li> <li><span class="date-tag">[1999]</span> <a href="/gnu/byte-interview.html"> BYTE interview with Richard Stallman</a></li> <li><span class="date-tag">[1989]</span> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210820153013/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/11/business/business-technology-one-man-s-fight-for-free-software.html"> One Man's Fight for Free 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="/philosophy/not-ipr.html">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><span class="date-tag">[1983]</span> <a href="/gnu/road-to-gnu.html"> 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><span class="date-tag">[1983]</span> <a href="/gnu/why-programs-should-be-shared.html"> Why Programs Should be Shared</a></li> <li><span class="date-tag">[1983]</span> <a href="/gnu/yes-give-it-away.html"> Yes, Give It Away</a></li> </ul> <h3 id="gnu-structure">GNU Structure</h3> <ul> <li><span class="date-tag">[2020]</span> <a href="/gnu/gnu-structure.html"> The Structure and Administration of the GNU Project</a> (by Brandon Invergo and Richard Stallman)</li> </ul> <h3 id="gnulinux">GNU and Linux</h3> <ul> <li><span class="date-tag">*[2000-2007]</span> <a href="/gnu/why-gnu-linux.html"> What's in a Name?</a> (by Richard Stallman) — Why the “Linux system” should be called GNU/Linux.</li> <li><span class="date-tag">[2001-2020]</span> <a href="/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html"> A GNU/Linux FAQ</a> (by Richard Stallman)</li> <li><span class="date-tag">[1997-2019]</span> <a href="/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html"> Linux and the GNU System</a> (by Richard Stallman) — The relationship between GNU and Linux.</li> <li><span class="date-tag">[2018]</span> <a href="/gnu/incorrect-quotation.html"> Incorrect Quotation</a> (by Richard Stallman)</li> <li><span class="date-tag">[2006]</span> <a href="/gnu/gnu-users-never-heard-of-gnu.html"> GNU Users Who Have Never Heard of GNU</a> (by Richard Stallman)</li> </ul> <h3 id="misc">Other GNU-related resources</h3> <ul> <li><a href="http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group_list">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="https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=9965">(9965) GNU</a>, provisionally designated as 1992 EF<sub>2</sub>, was named after the GNU project in the <a href="https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2000/MPC_20001111.pdf">Minor Planet Circular 41571</a>. The asteroid was discovered at Kitt Peak by Spacewatch on the 5<sup>th</sup> March 1992.</p> </div> </div>  <div style="clear:both"></div> <div id="language-container"> <div class="backtotop"> <hr class="no-display" /> <a href="#top"><b>▲</b></a> </div> <div id="languages" class="rounded-corners"> <div class="button"> <a href="#top" class="close"><span>BACK TO TOP</span></a> </div> <div id="set-language" class="button"> <span class="gnun-split"></span> <a href="/server/select-language.html?callback=/gnu/gnu.html" rel="nofollow"> Set language <span class="gnun-split"></span> </a> </div> <p>Available for this page:</p> <div id="translations"> <p> <span dir="ltr" class="original">[en] <a lang="en" hreflang="en" href="/gnu/gnu.en.html">English</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ar] <a lang="ar" hreflang="ar" href="/gnu/gnu.ar.html">العربية</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[bg] <a lang="bg" hreflang="bg" href="/gnu/gnu.bg.html">български</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ca] <a lang="ca" hreflang="ca" href="/gnu/gnu.ca.html">català</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[de] <a lang="de" hreflang="de" href="/gnu/gnu.de.html">Deutsch</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[el] <a lang="el" hreflang="el" href="/gnu/gnu.el.html">ελληνικά</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[es] <a lang="es" hreflang="es" href="/gnu/gnu.es.html">español</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[fr] <a lang="fr" hreflang="fr" href="/gnu/gnu.fr.html">français</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[hr] <a lang="hr" hreflang="hr" href="/gnu/gnu.hr.html">hrvatski</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[it] <a lang="it" hreflang="it" href="/gnu/gnu.it.html">italiano</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ja] <a lang="ja" hreflang="ja" href="/gnu/gnu.ja.html">日本語</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ko] <a lang="ko" hreflang="ko" href="/gnu/gnu.ko.html">한국어</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ml] <a lang="ml" hreflang="ml" href="/gnu/gnu.ml.html">മലയാളം</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[nl] <a lang="nl" hreflang="nl" href="/gnu/gnu.nl.html">Nederlands</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[pl] <a lang="pl" hreflang="pl" href="/gnu/gnu.pl.html">polski</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[pt-br] <a lang="pt-br" hreflang="pt-br" href="/gnu/gnu.pt-br.html">português</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ru] <a lang="ru" hreflang="ru" href="/gnu/gnu.ru.html">русский</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[sq] <a lang="sq" hreflang="sq" href="/gnu/gnu.sq.html">Shqip</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[sr] <a lang="sr" hreflang="sr" href="/gnu/gnu.sr.html">српски</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[tr] <a lang="tr" hreflang="tr" href="/gnu/gnu.tr.html">Türkçe</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[uk] <a lang="uk" hreflang="uk" href="/gnu/gnu.uk.html">українська</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[zh-cn] <a lang="zh-cn" hreflang="zh-cn" href="/gnu/gnu.zh-cn.html">简体中文</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[zh-tw] <a lang="zh-tw" hreflang="zh-tw" href="/gnu/gnu.zh-tw.html">繁體中文</a>  </span> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mission-statement" role="complementary"> <div class="backtotop"> <hr class="no-display" /> <a href="#header"><span>BACK TO TOP </span>▲</a> </div> <div style="clear: both"></div> <blockquote> <p style="direction:ltr; text-align:left"><a href="//www.fsf.org"><img id="fsfbanner" src="/graphics/fsf-logo-notext-small.png" alt=" [FSF logo] " width="75" height="25" /></a><strong> “The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom. 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