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<title>GNU in a Nutshell
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>GNU in a Nutshell</h2>
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<p>GNU <a href="#f1">[1]</a> was launched by Richard Stallman (rms) in 1983, as an
operating system which would be put together by people working
together for the freedom of all software users to control their
computing. rms remains the Chief GNUisance today.</p>
<p>The primary and continuing goal of GNU is to offer a Unix-compatible
system that would be 100% <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free
software</a>. Not 95% free, not 99.5%, but 100%. The name of the
system, GNU, is a recursive acronym meaning GNU's Not Unix—a way
of paying tribute to the technical ideas of Unix, while at the same time
saying that GNU is something different. Technically, GNU is like Unix.
But unlike Unix, GNU gives its users freedom.</p>
<p><a href="/distros/free-distros.html">Completely free system
distributions</a> (“distros”) meeting this goal are
available today, many using the <a
href="https://www.fsfla.org/svnwiki/selibre/linux-libre/">Linux-libre kernel</a> (the <a
href="/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html">relationship between GNU and the Linux
kernel</a> is described more fully elsewhere). The <a
href="/software/software.html">GNU packages</a> have been designed to
work together so we could have a functioning GNU system. It has turned
out that they also serve as a common “upstream” for many
distros, so contributions to GNU packages help the free software
community as a whole. Naturally, work on GNU is ongoing, with the goal
to create a system that gives the greatest freedom to computer users.
GNU packages include user-oriented applications, utilities, tools,
libraries, even games—all the programs that an operating system
can usefully offer to its users. <a href="/help/evaluation.html">New
packages are welcome.</a> </p>
<p>Thousands of people have joined in to make GNU the success it is
today, and there are <a href="/help/help.html">many ways to
contribute</a>, both technical and non-technical. GNU developers gather
from time to time in <a href="/ghm/ghm.html">GNU Hackers Meetings</a>,
sometimes as part of the larger free software community <a
href="https://libreplanet.org/">LibrePlanet</a> conferences.</p>
<p>GNU has been supported in several ways by the <a
href="https://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a>, the nonprofit
organization also founded by rms to advocate free software ideals.
Among other things, the FSF accepts copyright assignments and
disclaimers, so it can act in court on behalf of GNU programs. (To be
clear, contributing a program to GNU does <em>not</em> require
transferring copyright to the FSF. If you do assign copyright, the FSF
will enforce the GPL for the program if someone violates it; if you keep
the copyright, enforcement will be up to you.)</p>
<p>The ultimate goal is to provide free software to do all of the
jobs computer users want to do—and thus make proprietary software
a thing of the past.</p>
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<h3 class="footnote">Footnote</h3>
<ol>
<li id="f1">“GNU” is pronounced as <a
href="/gnu/pronunciation.html">one syllable with a hard <i>g</i></a>.</li>
</ol>
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<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to
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There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
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<p>Copyright © 2011, 2017, 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p>
<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
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