The Making of GNU: The World's First Open-Source Software
The GNU Project was the first widely recognized open source software project, as we understand the term today (the practice of sharing and collaborating on software code predates GNU by several years). The making of the GNU Project is a story that every tech enthusiast should know.
It all started in the early 1980s at the prestigious MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, where Richard Stallman, a passionate computer programmer and MIT alumnus, was working. Due to his increasing frustration of proprietary software, Richard Stallman announces the GNU Project on September 27, 1983 and resigns from the MIT AI Lab in 1984 to work on GNU full time. Stallman outlines all of the project’s objectives and philosophy in the now-famous GNU Manifesto.
In 1985, he founds the Free Software Foundation, or FSF, to support the GNU Project and promote the free software movement. The FSF becomes the project’s beating heart, providing legal and financial backing to help fund the development of free software. This was swiftly followed by the release of the powerful GNU Emacs text editor in 1985, the versatile GNU Compiler Collection, or GCC, in 1987, and the robust GNU Debugger, or GDB, in 1988.
As the project gains momentum, Stallman introduces the first version of the GNU General Public License, or GPL, in 1989. This ingenious legal framework protects the rights of free software users and developers, ensuring that GPL-licensed software remains free and open for all to modify and redistribute.
This brings us to 1991 - enter a young Finnish computer science student with a penchant for tinkering, Linus Torvalds. The Unix-like operating system, MINIX, couldn’t accomplish what Linus wanted it to do on his Intel 80386 CPU, which led him to create this little kernel, called Linux, in 1991 (more on that in this video - "The Making of Linux..." • The Making of Linux: T... .
But he hadn’t created other software, like text editors, compilers, or debuggers - like GNU already had. But the kernel, that’s the one thing GNU was missing. Stallman saw Torvald’s kernel as the missing piece of the puzzle and set out to integrate it with the rest of the GNU operating system.
In 1992, Torvalds released the kernel under the GNU General Public License. Now that Linux was GPL-licensed, the Linux and GNU developers worked to combine the Linux kernel with the existing GNU components to create a fully functional and free operating system known as GNU/Linux.
We went over GNU/Linux in-depth in the first video in this series: “The Making of Linux: The World’s First Open Source Operating System”: • The Making of Linux: T...
This is kind of the merging point of the two videos where in that one you can see how the Linux kernel came about, merged with GNU, and learn just how prevalent GNU/Linux is today.
Anyway… what began as Richard Stallman’s vision has grown into a global movement that champions the values of freedom, collaboration, and community-driven innovation. The GNU Project and the GNU/Linux operating system have not only inspired countless developer and users, but also laid the foundation for a thriving free and open source software ecosystem.
I hope you enjoyed it! If I could ask a favor from those who made it this far and enjoyed this video, share it with your friends. The more I know y’all like it, the more inclined I am to make more episodes in the series. Also comment what software, or even hardware or other historical technologies you’d like to see in this series. I appreciate you all for the never-ending support. Until next time.
The Making of Linux: The World’s First Open Source Operating System: • The Making of Linux: T...
00:00 GNU's Not Unix
00:33 Announcing My Series "The Making Of..."
01:07 Why Stallman Built GNU
02:13 Richard Stallman Announces The GNU Project
02:47 Founding the Free Software Foundation
03:17 Developers Join GNU and Build Free Software
03:54 First Version of GNU GPL
04:15 Linus Torvald's Makes the Linux Kernel
05:37 GNU/Linux is Built
06:40 Open and Free Software Continues Today...
07:28 Thanks for Watching!!
07:50 Stallman Got Moves
------------------------
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“With software there are only two possibilites: either the users control the programme or the programme controls the users. If the programme controls the users, and the developer controls the programme, then the programme is an instrument of unjust power.” ― Richard Stallman
@jezzamobile
Жыл бұрын
Sounds like the case for BSV v BTC as well...
@mybachhertzbaud3074
Жыл бұрын
Your comment reminded me of my early days working with Hp Business basic. We had a custom medical billing program which of course was interpreted code. The first time I found you could stop the program in it's tracks and modify the code and proceed was astounding to me and of course very empowering. Sadly that system had one huge drawback. If there was even the slightest drop in power while doing something like a backup to tape, an entire days work could be lost in an instant. Possible moral, " With loss of great power,comes great humility.😜
@DocBolle
8 күн бұрын
A false dichotomy, also known as a false binary or false dilemma, is an informal fallacy that presents a limited number of options as if they were the only options available. This fallacy involves misrepresenting an issue by offering only two options when, in reality, there are more possibilities. The goal of a false dichotomy is to force people to choose between two extremes, often with the intention of presenting a misleading or biased perspective.
Richard Stallman was meant to be speaking at my school next week, but it unfortunately got cancelled due to some controversial things he said in the past :/
@theencryptedpartition4633
Жыл бұрын
We hear you brother
@bitcoinmx
Жыл бұрын
What did he said?
@justahumanwithamask4089
Жыл бұрын
Let me guess some woke snowflake started complaining
@nectarinetangerineorange
Жыл бұрын
@@bitcoinmx Richard Stallman is famously a paedophile; and GNU is not the worlds first anything. Every organization that this pervert associates himself with ends up in failure, because of his filmed interview where he claimed "12 was old enough" and his complete and utter refusal to apologize for or take back what he said. There are actual free and open-source projects without ties to perverts; and there are other open-source licenses which are more free, open, and accessible. (MIT and BSD Licenses are examples) GNU has lost all credibility as a 'reputable' association by continuing to stay connected to Stallman.
@jacobschweiger5897
Жыл бұрын
that's terrible. What a shame.
I am watching this on Arch linux. I am thankful to all the developers working for GNU/Linux.
@camelotenglishtuition6394
Жыл бұрын
I love arch users... I'm still just rockin debian..
@samienr
10 ай бұрын
I use arch btw
@geistreichtube
4 ай бұрын
I don't use Arch. But I'm a vegan btw.
@Void_Linux999
3 ай бұрын
I'm watching this on my own custom made OS, by the way. Open source software is great though too.
@ty2k
3 ай бұрын
That's awesome. I'm watching this on KZread.
4:34 Perhaps more importantly, MINIX was only available under a non-Free licence: you had to buy a copy of Tanenbaum’s textbook in order to get the licence. Linus wanted something he could use and redistribute freely, and that others could also use and redistribute freely.
Good video and explanation on Linux and GNU history. I met Richard Stallman when he spoke at U.C. Berkley on GNU/Linux.
Great mini-documentary! I really like the script and your narration! Cheers from Brazil.
Stalman hates when people say that he is the open-source.s father. There is a big diference between open an free software.
@nonenothingnull
5 ай бұрын
Corporations pay for this cognitive dissonance to reach mainstream
I've already commented this in another video of yours like this but I really do love this kind of content, it's great to know the history of how technology got here today, you should do a video on Bill Joy! He had a famous interview where he predicted ai being what it is today about 20 years ago, his life is a great subject. Again, love the content!
it's a shame that people feel the need to misrepresent Stallman, GNU, and the Free Software Foundation's name by referring to his and their works of Free Software as "open source" software, whose principles Stallman does not align or agree with
@sujeewa8067
Жыл бұрын
exactly!
@lawrencedoliveiro9104
Жыл бұрын
I don’t understand what exactly Stallman disagrees with. If you look at the Open Source definition, what is there that goes against his philosophy?
@shallex5744
Жыл бұрын
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 the open source "movement" was a co-option of the original free software movement. it is designed to take issues of freedom, ethics, and morality out of the equation. the issue of free software is an inherently political and social one, championing for the freedom of its users. because of that, large corporations who develop proprietary software generally don't want to touch the idea with a ten foot pole, so "open source" was devised as a means of taking almost the same exact classification of software, and marketing it in more neutral terms; "open source" does not care about user freedom, it only concerns itself with the practical benefits of "open source" as a development model, i.e. that it is a superior model of software development, but they otherwise do not care about whether or not users have freedom in using it. open source software due to its permissive license can and often is turned proprietary by large corporations who use the software for their needs. in contrast, a license like the GPL is a copyleft license, which guarantees that any copy or derivative copy of the software must always include corresponding source code, in other words, a GPL'd piece of software can not be turned proprietary. so yes, while "open source" and "free software" cover almost the same range of software, their philosophies and motivations are different. one is concerned with user freedom, the other is not necessarily so. it is concerned with its practical advantages, and being marketable to large companies
@lawrencedoliveiro9104
Жыл бұрын
@@shallex5744 The GPL doesn’t prevent commercialization by large companies, either. And the FSF is quite happy to include non-copyleft licences under its definition of “Free software”. Apart from that, you are just regurgitating the same old Stallman cant. So what exactly is the problem with “Open Source”, again?
@shallex5744
Жыл бұрын
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 i didn't say anything about "commercial". commercial and proprietary are not the same thing. there is nothing wrong with commercial software if it is free i didn't say there was a problem with open source software, i said that stallman does not align or agree with its philosophy, so it is wrong to attribute that name to him, which he finds insulting and tells people not to do
Great video! Something from a slightly different sphere in tech would be cool too. Like the making of C or of C++, I've tried learning a tiny bit about it but just learned how ubiquitous it is. Apperently there was B before? It's crazy to me the amount of foresight needed in designing something like this. Also, if you ever reached out to interview some of these legends- I wouldn't be surprised if they were down. I'm not sure if you've watched any of the honeypot documentaries, but your channel is much bigger so if there was any person you wished you could have a conversation with, it may be possible (and we'd love to see parts of it!)
👍Thanks, great video man!
Great content as always.
Thanks for the great GNU/KZread video
@angelcaru
3 ай бұрын
What you're referring to as "GNU" is, in fact, "GNU/GNU", or, as I've been bringing myself to call it, "GNU + GNU"
Great job and nice upload! Do one on the old-school MIT and Berkeley hacker culture!
Awesome content forest always a pleasure
A video about the POSIX standards would be good.
@lawrencedoliveiro9104
Жыл бұрын
Stallman was responsible for the “POSIX” name, too.
Really nice video. I thought it was from some top creator while watching it. I believe you will get some recognition with this level of quality.
I love this serie, I love you too. Greetings from Argentina!
It would be neat to cover creative software such as obs, gimp, krita, blender, inkscape, etc. Great work! And then programming languages?
@muhammadzainabbasbaloch3200
Жыл бұрын
❤ Open-source is love
@LewisCowles
Жыл бұрын
Blender has a KZread video somewhere including someone trying to buy it, and the author refusing
Excited for next episode about BSD
Thank you for this video. It is perfect to explain the history of opensource to newcomers
@nonenothingnull
5 ай бұрын
And to misinform them all
Awesome video
I love this content, if you could make a video about the making of C that would be awesome
5:54 bash and shell are the same thing. bash is just one of the version of the shell, it's also a programming language, and if you write bash in posix compliet way your scripts will be unix compatible, meaning it will most likly run in any other shell. terminal emulator ar just the terminal is a program which shows you the shell and enables you to communicate with the kernel through the shell. There are many different terminals and many different shells available, but some of them are not posix complient, meaning they break compatibility with unix like OSes.
Literally watched the first episode about Linux a few hours ago, and this comes out a few hours later 😹 Good thing I subscribed, else I would've missed it 😏
Great content
Thank you for creating and sharing this consice yet complete story. Make me feel proud of my engineering fraternity.
Lol its wild how much stuff GNU really made. Glibc, gcc, gdb, and all that stuff, they really just made themselves. Like I use them hella but its kinda wierd knowing they were the ones who wrote it all.
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
Guix made... bootstrapping from nothing
Good job Pal
Awesome 😍
Yes! Awesome
Nice video!
Good resume thanks
great cover of the history!
It would be cool to hear about how git was made. I'll also second some other comments about it being cool to hear about the the development of some languages like C.
Great one matey, where is the FSF theme song? You didn't mention that!!! ;)
Спасибо, было интересно
Richard Stallman himself have said he's not the open source father and GNU is not open source, it is LIBRE SOFTWARE. Libre software has the liberty ideology Open source is for practical reasons only.
@eurim.3407
4 ай бұрын
@@nicksterj nowdays stallman use the libre word because it is clearer than free, just look at his contemporary speechs.
Long live GNU! Long live FSF!
I would love a video on usenet the social media before the internet
Hey I would share it with some friends to support you but I don't have any interested. but please continue this!!!!
I used to use many Live Linux DVDs
I feel like many of these early philosophies will come back again, as AI rolls in, with a new set of challenges.
Did you already cover the DEC PDP-11? Never enough PDP-11 (Or DEC) content on KZread. Birthplace of Unix, Grandfather to the x86 instruction set, Grandfather to the ISA/PCI-bus, and more.
subscribed just for BSD video. I am part of FreeBSD GSoC :) this year
@SophonieBouye
Жыл бұрын
Oh 😮 nice how can I join FreeBSD GSoC too ?
Not to detract from Richards contributions❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ but the first true open source software was the patches that gave us the first hard drive for a personal computer. It was a 5meg hd for the coco in '80. I include the source in assembler free because I new I would not be around to support it's future development. It was also the beginning of the ever famous readme file which was first a readme.bas because we had no word processor. The code was distributed by bulletin board systems which were the precursor to the internet which I also founded. Thanks Rich...I'll buy you a beer if I see you.💕❤️🥰🤗😇,jpk
Wow Great 👍 Please make an episode on "Making AI a human assistant"
Forest, when I saw the title of your video I thought for sure, someone is going to provide a history of DECUS, Dr. Dobs Journal and other freely distributed open source software of the 1970's. But I guess the world didn't exist before you were born.
I was so glad to evict "windows" back in 2009. By then Ubuntu etc. were becoming really smooth, and the choices continue to improve.
That's a smart ass move, i wouldn't know that you made another video without that comment 😅😂
Arch linux or Gentoo would be cool to see!
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
Nah
i wish i have friends who understand this to send it to.
🎉
Whats the background music pleaseeee
Vim/Neovim next? :D
do turbo pascal it was, imho, revolutionary
Thank you programmer Jesus
Richard Stallman is probably one of the few individuals who earned the right to be strange.
GNU is not open-source software, GNU is free software
I wonder where 20 years from now, we'll look at OpenAi and what could have been and instead look at something like facebook's Llama open source code as a beginning for a new era of software.
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
I dream of a day where free software is perfected by it and becomes the norm
Richard Stallman never would have referred to GNU as "Open Source".
I'd like to interject here for a moment...
7:51 when kernel finally arrived
Richard Stallman finds it offensive when you call his software Opensource, he prefers word free software.
5:17 Actually, Stallman was not keen on Linux at all. He was working on his own “Hurd” kernel, which was going to be have a “microkernel” architecture, which would supposedly make it much easier to develop, test and maintain. Better than an old-fashioned “monolithic” kernel, like Linux. Well, here we are, about 30 years later, and we’re still waiting for Hurd to reach production quality. Meanwhile, Linux started becoming popular just a couple of years after that initial announcement, and spread to a whole bunch of non-x86 architectures at the same time.
@formbi
Жыл бұрын
yeah, but do keep in mind that most kernel hackers went to Linux after it started being used in GNU
@gauravshah89
Жыл бұрын
Linus is good at marketing and also a narcissist. Who names a program after himself? Because I can't tolerate narcissism I use freebsd. If GNU were complete, I would have stayed with it.
@lawrencedoliveiro9104
Жыл бұрын
@@gauravshah89 He didn’t want to name it after himself. He wanted to call it “Freax”. He is certainly no “narcissist”, as the quality of his contributions can attest.
@gauravshah89
Жыл бұрын
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 That freax story may as well be lie. What matters is that this man has a full goddamn kernel named after him. He also wants the complete system created with GNU and other userland to be named after him as his opposition to the term GNU/Linux shows. He calls the bash as the Linux command line (which in reality is the GNU command line). Linux has no command line. Linus wants to take credit for other people's work as well. He is a narcissist and hence I avoid using the kernel built by him and his cult followers as much as I can.
@lawrencedoliveiro9104
Жыл бұрын
@@gauravshah89 You “may as well be a lie”. You like BSD, fine. Don’t try demonizing Linux, or Linus.
AI should be free too. Not as a freebie, but as in Freedom.
I wish I could press like 100 times...
@sujeewa8067
Жыл бұрын
we can share it 100 times 👀
Richard Stallman > Steve Bobs & Lill Gaytes
ah yes, Leenus Torvalds
This is a libre comment, feel free to copy, modify and/or redistribute as required.
GNU is about free software, not open source
Source Software
Why i have to go trough hard staff again my mode is straithforward i don't give shit argument about enviction
Who's new at the zoo, I'll tell you who. The Gnu is new, and the cockatoo too
closedAI
Argh. Dont call GNU for opensourcr but Free Software!
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
He does not care
Good morning, everyone. I've always had trouble understanding the definitions of GNU and Linux. However, after watching this video I think I understood it. Please correct me if I'm wrong. In Richard Stallman's email (0:23) he states that, "GNU will be a kernel plus all the utilities needed to write and run C programs:..." however, what they created, until 1991 were programs, but no kernel. Then, when Linus Tovalds arrived on the scene with Linux, the GNU Project crew decided to use it as their kernel, giving rise to the GNU/Linux operating system. Is that it?🤔
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
Yeah, he tried to do HURD, but it's been 30 years and it's no better than mach
2nd
Bro you completely miss the point Richard Stallman did not make open source software he invented free software
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
He does not care
5rd
We have GNU because the printer screwed up and they won't let him adjust it.
It's just a shame how Richard Stallman can be, and what he's like now.
so GNU and FSF exist because Stallman was frustrated with a printer.
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
And the death of hacker culture
Free or libre software, not open source software Richard and the fsf have been trying so hard to get people to stop missdescribing them
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
He does not care
Remember people - If you use MS Windows or even macOS - YOU DON'T FULLY OWN OR CONTROL THE SYSTEM AND INFORMATION IN IT!!! Microsoft and Apple has the KEYS to your INFORMATION/DATA !
its Free not Open Source
Yes..That would be better. Because for him, Linux is just a kernel.
Bro seriously?! The title is completely wrong -The World's First Open-Source Software, GNU IS NOT OPEN SOURCE, GNU IS A FREE SOFTWARE INITIATIVE
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
He does not care
@TheBrian7872
2 ай бұрын
@@nonenothingnull Why make a video about Stallman when you dont care about his values :(
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
@@TheBrian7872 because he wants engagement, not accuracy
Someone tell me which one is better among these 1. Mobile computing 2. Web technology 3. Information management 4. ERP systems 5. Graph theory
@anon_y_mousse
Жыл бұрын
If you're looking for a subject to study that'll help you far into the future then go with graph theory.
third
No, The GNU project was not the first widely recognized open source software project, even "as we understand the term today". GNU itself arose from an earlier attempt at open source by Stallman, and the whole impetus for the Manifesto was the legal issues that arose from that attempt. And the practice of sharing and collaborating on software code predates GNU by nearly 3 decades; dating to the first shared language compilers. Do say otherwise is to rob the GNU project of its own motivation, and to ignore the fact that in the US 'copyleft' wouldn't have been possible before a change in copyright law in 1980.
“OPEN-SOURCE”! Are you sure it’s not FREE-SOFTWARE? 🤣🤣🤣
Hi, the owner of this channel, please tell me how to build a gui program that locks an exe file with given password by user and when users wants to enter that exe app, a form should asks for a password to enter that exe app?
gnu good gpl3 good linux bad gpl2 bad linus torvald bad
@liquidsnake6879
Жыл бұрын
Linus isn't bad he's just short sighted, he doesn't care about freedom that's never really been his thing, his relationship with software is purely mechanical, he just enjoys creating stuff and getting contributions back, that's all you get with Linus, he has no opinions on proprietary blobs, NSA malware, closed source software, data collection etc he just doesn't care, he's still an asset to the FOSS world but Stallman is a greater one.
@LethalBubbles
Жыл бұрын
@@liquidsnake6879 that's a far more nuanced take thanks I agree
Free man free not Open Source... Shame on you 😊
used sponsorblock, adblock, AND disliked this video LMAO!
@nonenothingnull
2 ай бұрын
No proper mentions of free software and distinctions of it vs open soros
And dont't forget Bitcoin, one of the biggest free and open-source project around today.
The problem: standing on the shoulders of giants. He could have never built this without the work of people who came before building proprietary software. Additionally, if the code can be freely shared, why charge money for it? and without a profit motive we wouldn’t be where we are today. You can’t even use where we are today as an example because proprietary software/hardware has made it possible to develop free software. If everything had already been free, computers wouldn’t exist.
@sweetdrreemz
Жыл бұрын
You're not quite correct. The early years of computing, were a gray area, where, generally, more often than not, software was shared. Stallman came into computing around the time businesses started making things proprietary. Prior to that, the culture of, 'sharing,' was the norm, and implied. The real change was the shift to proprietary code. And it's that shift in the way of doing things, that bothered stallman. The giants were all sharing code and ideas, until the suits came in, and started locking everything down, because they saw an opportunity to exploit for profit, artificial scarcity.
@wlcrutch
Жыл бұрын
@@sweetdrreemz Without profit motive, the hardware wouldn’t have even existed. Stallman is right about a lot of things. But be weary of those chasing utopia.
@sweetdrreemz
Жыл бұрын
@@wlcrutch If I have an apple orchard, and you buy an apple from me, you planting a seed and growing your own apple tree, isn't chasing a, 'utopia.' On the other hand, if I sell you an apple, with a license that says, you aren't allow to grow any apple trees with the apple seeds, that's exploitation by creating artificial scarcity. And for a real world example, Monsanto actually does this. Computer hardware manufacturers were of course, making money by selling hardware. But, again, those giants you speak of, were all sharing code in the early days of computers. It's when proprietary code started becoming a thing, that Stallman was motivated towards becoming a sort of, 'Johnny Appleseed,' if you will. Ideas like, 'Right to Repair,' aren't, 'chasing a utopia,' they are an attempt towards a return to decency and autonomy. Now Bill Gate's Mansion and Steve Job's yacht; those are more akin to, 'chasing utopia.' The rest of us just want decency and the freedom to dictate autonomy in our digital lives; to be free from control and imbalances of power created by proprietary software. And by way of definition, attempting to achieve massive wealth, through exploitation via artificial scarcity, and succeeding, is probably more akin to chasing and achieving utopia.
booooo, let's make a lot of money. linux still no good, lol
I've met Richard Stallman. He is an absolutely terrible human.
@squarerootof2
8 ай бұрын
Did he hurt your feefies?
@neomage2021
8 ай бұрын
@@squarerootof2 Nah just a a gross shitty person. We brought him to the school for a talk. I was head of the ACM club. I had to pick him up from the airport and take him everywhere for about a week. He treated people like shit. He talked down to every server when we went out to eat, he left half eaten food everywhere (he stayed at my house), never showered, just took stuff out of my house. He also refuses to use non open source software..himself. But had me or his assistant do everything for him. Make a call, use a map, look something up online for him, etc.