gnu linux

i understand the gnu is the mascot for gnu linux(software on linux) but why is gnu the mascot?i also understand that gnu also stands for gnus not unix.can someone tell me why the gnu is the mascot?




thanks alot

seems obvious to me.

in the world of linux , they are kinda fond of using abbreviations that start with the abbreviation itself.

if the abbreviation was k.i.t.t.y. i'm sure they picked a cat instead

"So I looked for a recursive acronym for Something is not UNIX. And I
tried all 26 letters, and discovered that none of them was a word.
Hmm, try another way. I made a contraction. That way I could have
a three-letter acronym, for Something's not UNIX. And I tried letters,
and I came across the word "GNU" -- the word "GNU" is the funniest
word in the English language. That was it.
Of course, the reason it's funny is that according to the dictionary,
it's pronounced "new". You see? And so that's why people use it for
a lot of word play. Let me tell you, this is the name of an animal
that lives in Africa."

RMS has been repeating this at about every
conference he attends for years and years...
then, about an hour talk later, he usually
takes his funny hat and dress and bless the
audience in the name of Saint Emacs

Here's another one for you: The RPM package management system.

Because it's used so heavily by Red Hat, many people believe it stands for the Redhat Package Manager (which I believed too, until I found out I was wrong).

It actually stands for the RPM Package Manager... ah yes, nothing like recursive acronyms.