unix-wizards encountered an
unusual message. Posted in the small hours of the
morning, 12:30 a.m. to be exact, and signed by
rms@mit-oz , the message's subject line was terse but
attention-grabbing. "New UNIX implementation," it read.
Instead of introducing a newly released version of
Unix, however, the message's opening paragraph issued a
call to arms: Starting this Thanksgiving I am going to
write a complete Unix-compatible software system called
GNU (for Gnu's Not Unix), and give it away free to
everyone who can use it. Contributions of time, money,
programs and equipment are greatly needed.1 To an
experienced Unix developer, the message was a mixture
of idealism and hubris. Not only did the author pledge
to rebuild the already mature Unix operating system
from the ground up, he also proposed to improve it in
places. The new GNU system, the author predicted, would
carry all the usual components-a text editor, a shell
program to run Unix-compatible applications, a
compiler, "and a few other things.
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