GNU 是什麼?
GNU 是個自由軟體作業系統——也就是說,它尊重使用者的自由。GNU
作業系統由 GNU 軟體包(指稱 GNU 專案所發行的程式)構成。有了 GNU 的開發,人們得以使用電腦而不必忍受踐踏你自由的軟體。
我們推薦完全由自由軟體組成的可安裝 GNU 版本(更精確來講是
GNU/Linux 散布版)。以下有更多 GNU 相關資訊。
試試 GNU/Linux
...或試試部分的
GNU
自由軟體運動是什麼?
The free software movement campaigns to win for the users of computing the
freedom that comes from free software. Free software puts its users in
control of their own computing. Nonfree software puts its users under the
power of the software's developer. See the video
explanation.
自由軟體是什麼?
自由軟體代表使用者擁有執行、複製、散布、研究、修改、和改善軟體的自由。
Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept,
you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not
as in “free beer.”
更精確來講,自由軟體代表該程式的使用者擁有四大自由:
- 依照你的想法執行該程式的自由,無論任何目的(自由之零)。
- 研究該程式如何運作、並將之修改來讓電腦運算符合你所設想的自由(自由之壹)。能存取程式的源始碼 (source code) 是這項自由的先決條件。
- 再次散佈程式副本的自由,如此你就能幫助他人(自由之貳)。
- 將你所修改後的版本作成副本散布給他人的自由(自由之參)。如此一來你就讓社群整體有機會因為你的改動而受益。能存取源始碼是這項自由的先決條件。
科技的發展與網路的普及,使得現在這些自由比起1983年之時更為重要。
Nowadays the free software movement goes far beyond developing the GNU
system. See the Free Software Foundation's
web site for more about what we do, and a list of ways
you can help.
深入瞭解 GNU
GNU is a Unix-like operating system. That means it is a collection of many
programs: applications, libraries, developer tools, even games. The
development of GNU, started in January 1984, is known as the GNU Project.
Many of the programs in GNU are released under the auspices of the GNU
Project; those we call GNU packages.
「GNU」是「GNU's Not Unix」的遞迴式頭文字縮寫,意即「GNU 並非 Unix」。「GNU」英語發音為
g'noo,是單音節字,類似講「grew」,但把 r 的音替換為
n;華語(漢語官話)發音類似「革奴」。
The program in a Unix-like system that allocates machine resources and talks
to the hardware is called the “kernel.” GNU is typically used
with a kernel called Linux. This combination is the GNU/Linux operating
system. GNU/Linux is used by millions, though many call it “Linux” by mistake.
GNU's own kernel, the GNU Hurd, was
started in 1990 (before Linux was started). Volunteers continue developing
the Hurd because it is an interesting technical project.
更多資訊