Why "G"NU? "W"INE?

[kevin11951]

Any recursive acronym like gnu, or wine, could have any first letter it wants, so why G and W?

[dannytatom]

I'm guessing Wine used a W because it spelled Wine.

[jacksaff]

What other letter can you put in front of 'nu' and get a word????

[kevin11951]

What other letter can you put in front of 'nu' and get a word????

a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h-i-j-k-l-m-n-o-p-q-r-s-t-u-v-w-x-y-z...

[brunovecchi]

I remember Richard explaining it... something to do with it sounding like "new".

On the other hand, there doesn't have to be a reason. You just pick a letter and keep coding the thing.

[Giant Speck]

The mascot of GNU is the wildebeest, which is also commonly called a "gnu"

WINE begins with a W because it runs Windows programs.

[albinootje]

I remember Richard explaining it... something to do with it sounding like "new".

On the other hand, there doesn't have to be a reason. You just pick a letter and keep coding the thing.

Interesting to hear this about RMS.

Just a thought now, why doesn't Wine use the GPL ?
Because GNUs don't like drinking wine ?

:( :| :D

[ajcham]

Just a thought now, why doesn't Wine use the GPL ?
Because GNUs don't like drinking wine ?

Nice try, but Wine still uses a GNU licence - namely the LGPL.

[albinootje]

Nice try, but Wine still uses a GNU licence - namely the LGPL.

Hmmm, you're right, they changed from MIT license to LGPL.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_(software)

This week I noticed that CodeWeavers' CrossOverLinux had source code available, and that confused me a little.
Now I understand.
Thanks for the information!

[p_quarles]

a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h-i-j-k-l-m-n-o-p-q-r-s-t-u-v-w-x-y-z...
Right. So what is a "bnu"?

You do realize that a gnu is an actual four-legged hoofed mammal, yes?

[Grant A.]

Because gnus and winos get along perfectly.

[p_quarles]

Because gnus and winos get along perfectly.
I await a pictoral illustration supprting this claim.

[gletob]

Right. So what is a "bnu"?

You do realize that a gnu is an actual four-legged hoofed mammal, yes?

Yeah right next you'll be telling me there's an animal called an Ibex. :lolflag:

[p_quarles]

Yeah right next you'll be telling me there's an animal called an Ibex. :lolflag:
* hides *

[lykwydchykyn]

Those two are obvious, I think the real intriguing question is why the "k" in kde??

[the yawner]

That's easy. Because it used to be kool. Heh.

[kevin11951]

Right. So what is a "bnu"?

You do realize that a gnu is an actual four-legged hoofed mammal, yes?

there are over 200 languages over the world, there has to be something named bnu... :D

[phrostbyte]

Those two are obvious, I think the real intriguing question is why the "k" in kde??

Well there was a popular DE at the time called CDE or the "Common Desktop Environment", so maybe KDE was the Kommon Desktop Environment? :D

[Grant A.]

I await a pictoral illustration supprting this claim.

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/470/gnuwinosn9.png

I love satire. :popcorn:


------------

I do not endorse the WINE project, nor do I hate gnu, this is simply satire.

[jespdj]

Those two are obvious, I think the real intriguing question is why the "k" in kde??
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kde):

The K was originally suggested to stand for "Kool", but it was quickly decided that the K should stand for nothing in particular. Additionally, one of the tips in certain versions of KDE 3 incorrectly states that the K currently is just meant to be the letter before L in the Latin alphabet, the first letter in the word Linux (which is where KDE is usually run).

[albinootje]

The K was originally suggested to stand for "Kool", but it was quickly decided that the K should stand for nothing in particular. Additionally, one of the tips in certain versions of KDE 3 incorrectly states that the K currently is just meant to be the letter before L in the Latin alphabet, the first letter in the word Linux (which is where KDE is usually run).

Interesting to read this.

[nitpick-mode on]

I've been following KDE development when it was still in alpha stage, and in my memory it took quite a long time before the abbreviation Kool Desktop Environment became K Desktop Environment.
Actually some KDE people in the beginning called it unofficially Kalle's Desktop Environment, named after KDE developer Kalle Dalheimer.

[nitpick-mode off]

[forrestcupp]

Any recursive acronym like gnu, or wine, could have any first letter it wants, so why G and W?

This is a good observation. But you've been here for over a year, so you should know that it doesn't matter what question you ask on these forums; there will always be several wise acres who have the right answer. They even give answers to rhetorical questions.

And if they called it BNU, they couldn't have that ridiculous mascot. ;)

[dmn_clown]

And if they called it BNU, they couldn't have that ridiculous mascot. ;)

But if he had called it Xenu he could have passed his ponzi scam off as a religion and gotten tax exempt status...

[Rhapsody]

Isn't GNU Hurd really the champion of crazy acronyms?

HURD stands for HIRD of Unix-Replacing Daemons, where HIRD stands for HURD of Interfaces Representing Depth. It's an indirectly recursive acronym that also refers to a 'herd of gnus', referring to the server-based design that sits upon the microkernel.

The complexity of my explanation is only surpassed by the complexity of the Hurd itself.

[albinootje]

Isn't GNU Hurd really the champion of crazy acronyms?

HURD stands for HIRD of Unix-Replacing Daemons, where HIRD stands for HURD of Interfaces Representing Depth. It's an indirectly recursive acronym that also refers to a 'herd of gnus', referring to the server-based design that sits upon the microkernel.

The complexity of my explanation is only surpassed by the complexity of the Hurd itself.

:)
There's actually the Debian GNU/Hurd project :

http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/hurd-devel

Debian is not an acronym, but the names Debra and Ian together, I've always found that pretty cute as a name for Linux distribution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Murdock

[phrostbyte]

Isn't GNU Hurd really the champion of crazy acronyms?

HURD stands for HIRD of Unix-Replacing Daemons, where HIRD stands for HURD of Interfaces Representing Depth. It's an indirectly recursive acronym that also refers to a 'herd of gnus', referring to the server-based design that sits upon the microkernel.

The complexity of my explanation is only surpassed by the complexity of the Hurd itself.

GNU Bash is an clever one too the original UNIX shell was called Bourne's Shell, so bash stands for Bourne Again Shell. :)