40th Anniversary of GNU: Celebrating a Milestone in Free Software Movement
September 27, the world will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the GNU. On this day in 1983, Richard Stallman, a controversial figure known for sparking debates, announced the creation of a new operating system called Gnu’s Not Unix. To honor this momentous occasion, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has organized two special events.
The first event, called “hackaday,” will take place at the FSF headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It will be a gathering of passionate individuals who have contributed to the free software movement. The second event, a festive celebration with hackers, will be held in Bil/Bienn, Switzerland.
Although the GNU project had ambitious goals, some argue that it failed to achieve them in the strictest sense. The full-fledged GNU operating system never materialized, and the core GNU HURD is still incomplete and not suitable for everyday use.
Prior to embarking on the development of Hurd, the GNU project explored the possibility of using the BSD kernel. As developer Hurd Thomas Bushnell stated, “My first choice was to take the BSD 4.4-Lite release and create a kernel. I knew the code, I knew how to do this. I am now completely certain it would have been successful, and the world would be a very different place.”
Despite the challenges faced, the GNU project has been a tremendous success that revolutionized the computer industry. Many GNU-based operating systems, including GNU GUIX, exist today, with Linux as their kernel. However, the most significant impact of the GNU project has been the introduction of the concept of software freedom, reshaping the entire software industry. Visionaries like Eric Raymond and Bruce Perens successfully sold this idea to businesses under the term “open-source,” which gained momentum in the late 20th century.
Richard Stallman, the driving force behind the free software movement, remains an influential figure. Although he resigned from the Free Software Foundation in 2019, Stallman made a