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1. The Initial Announcement of the GNU Operating System {#the-initial-announcement-of-the-gnuoperatingsystem .chapter}
=======================================================
This is the original announcement of the GNU Project, posted by Richard
Stallman on 27 September 1983.
The actual history of the GNU Project differs in many ways from this
initial plan. For example, the beginning was delayed until January 1984.
Several of the philosophical concepts of free software were not
clarified until a few years later.
@raggedright @smallfonts @tt @hyphenpenalty=10000
@parskip=.66@baselineskip @parindent=0pt From
mit-vax!mit-eddie!RMS@MIT-OZ\
From: `RMS%MIT-OZ@mit-eddie`\
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards,net.usoft\
Subject: new Unix implementation\
Date: Tue, 27-Sep-83 12:35:59 EST\
Organization: MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA
Free Unix!
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[(1)](#FOOT1) to everyone who can use it. Contributions
of time, money, programs and equipment are greatly needed.
To begin with, GNU will be a kernel plus all the utilities needed to
write and run C programs: editor, shell, C compiler, linker, assembler,
and a few other things. After this we will add a text formatter, a YACC,
an Empire game, a spreadsheet, and hundreds of other things. We hope to
supply, eventually, everything useful that normally comes with a Unix
system, and anything else useful, including on-line and hardcopy
documentation.
@firstcopyingnotice{{@footnoterule Copyright © 1983 Richard Stallman\
{This announcement is part of @fsfsthreecite}
GNU will be able to run Unix programs, but will not be identical to
Unix. We will make all improvements that are convenient, based on our
experience with other operating systems. In particular, we plan to have
longer filenames, file version numbers, a crashproof file system,
filename completion perhaps, terminal-independent display support, and
eventually a Lisp-based window system through which several Lisp
programs and ordinary Unix programs can share a screen. Both C and Lisp
will be available as system programming languages. We will have network
software based on MIT’s chaosnet protocol, far superior to UUCP. We may
also have something compatible with UUCP.
Who Am I?
I am Richard Stallman, inventor of the original much-imitated EMACS
editor, now at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT. I have worked
extensively on compilers, editors, debuggers, command interpreters, the
Incompatible Timesharing System and the Lisp Machine operating system. I
pioneered terminal-independent display support in ITS. In addition I
have implemented one crashproof file system and two window systems for
Lisp machines.
Why I Must Write GNU
I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I must
share it with other people who like it. I cannot in good conscience sign
a nondisclosure agreement or a software license agreement.
So that I can continue to use computers without violating my principles,
I have decided to put together a sufficient body of free software so
that I will be able to get along without any software that is not free.
How You Can Contribute
I am asking computer manufacturers for donations of machines and money.
I’m asking individuals for donations of programs and work.
One computer manufacturer has already offered to provide a machine. But
we could use more. One consequence you can expect if you donate machines
is that GNU will run on them at an early date. The machine had better be
able to operate in a residential area, and not require sophisticated
cooling or power.
Individual programmers can contribute by writing a compatible duplicate
of some Unix utility and giving it to me. For most projects, such
part-time distributed work would be very hard to coordinate; the
independently-written parts would not work together. But for the
particular task of replacing Unix, this problem is absent. Most
interface specifications are fixed by Unix compatibility. If each
contribution works with the rest of Unix, it will probably work with the
rest of GNU.
If I get donations of money, I may be able to hire a few people full or
part time. The salary won’t be high, but I’m looking for people for whom
knowing they are helping humanity is as important as money. I view this
as a way of enabling dedicated people to devote their full energies to
working on GNU by sparing them the need to make a living in another way.
For more information, contact me.\
Arpanet mail:\
RMS@MIT-MC.ARPA
Usenet:\
...!mit-eddie!RMS@OZ ...!mit-vax!RMS@OZ
US Snail:\
Richard Stallman\
166 Prospect St\
Cambridge, MA 02139 @end raggedright
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