Bug 365746

Summary:	Operating System Menu should list "GNU+Linux", not "Linux"
Product:	[Websites] bugs.kde.org	Reporter:	wil der beest <wilderbeest>
Component:	general	Assignee:	KDE sysadmins <sysadmin>
Status:	RESOLVED NOT A BUG
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	chealer, nate, sheedy
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	unspecified
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Kubuntu
OS:	FreeBSD
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description wil der beest 2016-07-16 15:35:06 UTC

When filing a bug, one is asked to indicate the Operating System one is using. Included in the listings is "Linux". Linux is not an Operating System, it is a kernel. 

Recognition of the GNU project should be provided. The OS should be listed as "GNU+Linux". 

Also, KDE depends on free software, and by remembering to credit GNU one is also remembering the important principle of free software.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open a new bug
2. Select Operating System drop down menu
3.

Actual Results:  
Linux is listed

Expected Results:  
GNU+Linux should be listed as an Operating System

The GNU project explains why one should use GNU+Linux here:

https://www.gnu.org/gnu/why-gnu-linux.en.html

GNU created the Userland.

Comment 1 Philippe Cloutier 2019-07-18 01:46:28 UTC

Unlike Linux, GNU is a project, not a product. There is probably no operating system which is composed of all GNU products. For that reason, calling any operating system "GNU+anything" would be misleading. Furthermore, if such a system existed, it would include GNU Hurd, and the name "GNU+Linux" would therefore be incorrect.

At the time where the page you refer to was written, the "GNU+Linux operating system", if there is such a thing, was a lot younger and nowhere near as complete as it is today. I must say I did not use it at that time, but from my understanding, its development must have been a lot more centralized ("cathedral-like") than it is today ("bazaar-like"). In the current state of that operating system, a much higher part of its pieces are not from the GNU project. I arguably use that operating system, in the form of Kubuntu 19.04, with Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird. Stating that my system's userland was created by GNU would be exaggeratedly simplified. Very roughly, the userland comes as much from the GNU, KDE, X.org, Qt, Mozilla and LibreOffice projects. And there is probably more that doesn't come from any of these projects than from GNU.

If there is such a thing as that "GNU+Linux operating system", "Linux" is a bad name for it, and "GNU+Linux" is about equally bad. Where I do agree with you is that users should not have to select "Linux" in that drop-down. The 2 Platform dropdowns are currently a mess. Options in both are in large part duplicated (for example, "MS Windows") in both. If I select PCLinuxOS in the first, I shouldn't have to select "Linux" in the second. These fields are in a bad shape and basically need to be re-designed from scratch. First of all, should they be kept? Bugzilla seems to assume an issue affects a single platform, but that is rarely the case. One option is to give up on these fields entirely and just rely on the information in the Description and comments. The report template already includes:
> SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
> Windows: 
> macOS: 
> Linux/KDE Plasma:

Comment 2 Nate Graham 2022-09-02 18:36:07 UTC

GNU+Linux isn't an OS either. An OS is something like Kubuntu, Arch, or Fedora. This is listed under the "Platform" label which is sufficiently generic.