1. Find
2. From: RMS@MIT-OZ@mit-eddie.UUCP (Richard Stallman)
3. Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards,net.usoft
4. Subject: new UNIX implementation
5. Message-ID: <771@mit-eddie.UUCP>
6. Date: Tue, 27-Sep-83 13:35:59 EDT
7. Organization: MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA
8.  
9. Free Unix!
10.  
11. Starting this Thanksgiving I am going to write a complete
12. Unix-compatible software system called GNU (for Gnu's Not Unix), and
13. give it away free to everyone who can use it.  Contributions of time,
14. money, programs and equipment are greatly needed.
15.  
16. To begin with, GNU will be a kernel plus all the utilities needed to
17. write and run C programs: editor, shell, C compiler, linker,
18. assembler, and a few other things.  After this we will add a text
19. formatter, a YACC, an Empire game, a spreadsheet, and hundreds of
20. other things.  We hope to supply, eventually, everything useful that
21. normally comes with a Unix system, and anything else useful, including
22. on-line and hardcopy documentation.
23.  
24. GNU will be able to run Unix programs, but will not be identical
25. to Unix.  We will make all improvements that are convenient, based
26. on our experience with other operating systems.  In particular,
27. we plan to have longer filenames, file version numbers, a crashproof
28. file system, filename completion perhaps, terminal-independent
29. display support, and eventually a Lisp-based window system through
30. which several Lisp programs and ordinary Unix programs can share a screen.
31. Both C and Lisp will be available as system programming languages.
32. We will have network software based on MIT's chaosnet protocol,
33. far superior to UUCP.  We may also have something compatible
34. with UUCP.
35.  
36.  
37. Who Am I?
38.  
39. I am Richard Stallman, inventor of the original much-imitated EMACS
40. editor, now at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT.  I have worked
41. extensively on compilers, editors, debuggers, command interpreters, the
42. Incompatible Timesharing System and the Lisp Machine operating system.
43. I pioneered terminal-independent display support in ITS.  In addition I
44. have implemented one crashproof file system and two window systems for
45. Lisp machines.
46.  
47.  
48. Why I Must Write GNU
49.  
50. I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I
51. must share it with other people who like it.  I cannot in good
52. conscience sign a nondisclosure agreement or a software license
53. agreement.
54.  
55. So that I can continue to use computers without violating my principles,
56. I have decided to put together a sufficient body of free software so that
57. I will be able to get along without any software that is not free.
58.  
59.  
60. How You Can Contribute
61.  
62. I am asking computer manufacturers for donations of machines and money.
63. I'm asking individuals for donations of programs and work.
64.  
65. One computer manufacturer has already offered to provide a machine.  But
66. we could use more.  One consequence you can expect if you donate
67. machines is that GNU will run on them at an early date.  The machine had
68. better be able to operate in a residential area, and not require
69. sophisticated cooling or power.
70.  
71. Individual programmers can contribute by writing a compatible duplicate
72. of some Unix utility and giving it to me.  For most projects, such
73. part-time distributed work would be very hard to coordinate; the
74. independently-written parts would not work together.  But for the
75. particular task of replacing Unix, this problem is absent.  Most
76. interface specifications are fixed by Unix compatibility.  If each
77. contribution works with the rest of Unix, it will probably work
78. with the rest of GNU.
79.  
80. If I get donations of money, I may be able to hire a few people full or
81. part time.  The salary won't be high, but I'm looking for people for
82. whom knowing they are helping humanity is as important as money.  I view
83. this as a way of enabling dedicated people to devote their full energies to
84. working on GNU by sparing them the need to make a living in another way.
85.  
86.  
87. For more information, contact me.
88. Arpanet mail:
89.   RMS@MIT-MC.ARPA
90.  
91. Usenet:
92.   ...!mit-eddie!RMS@OZ
93.   ...!mit-vax!RMS@OZ
94.  
95. US Snail:
96.   Richard Stallman
97.   166 Prospect St
98.   Cambridge, MA 02139
99.