{"id":415,"date":"2026-02-10T04:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T04:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/?p=415"},"modified":"2026-02-17T04:37:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T04:37:59","slug":"gnu-and-gpl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/?p=415","title":{"rendered":"GNU and GPL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

🐧 GNU<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is GNU?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

GNU<\/strong> stands for<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

G<\/strong>NU\u2019s N<\/strong>ot U<\/strong>nix (recursive acronym 😄)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is a free software project<\/strong> started in 1983<\/strong> to create a Unix-like operating system<\/strong> that is completely free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founder<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Started by Richard Stallman<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Backed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Goal of GNU<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    To give users freedom<\/strong>, not just free-of-cost software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    GNU provides<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • GNU Compiler Collection (gcc<\/code>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • GNU C Library (glibc<\/code>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • GNU Shell (bash<\/code>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Core utilities (ls<\/code>, cp<\/code>, mv<\/code>, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      📌 Important exam line<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n

      Linux kernel + GNU tools = GNU\/Linux operating system<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      \n\n\n\n

      📜 GPL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      What is GPL?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      GPL<\/strong> stands for<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n

      General Public License<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      It is a free software license<\/strong> written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Purpose of GPL<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      To ensure that software remains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Free to use<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Free to modify<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Free to share<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        This concept is called copyleft<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n\n\n\n

        🔓 Four freedoms of GPL (VERY IMPORTANT ⭐)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        1. Freedom to run<\/strong> the program<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Freedom to study<\/strong> the source code<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Freedom to modify<\/strong> the program<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. Freedom to redistribute<\/strong> copies (original or modified)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          \n\n\n\n

          🔁 Copyleft (exam keyword)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • If you modify GPL software<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • And distribute it<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • You must release your code under GPL<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            👉 This prevents software from becoming closed-source later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n\n\n\n

            🆚 GNU vs GPL (Exam Comparison Table)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            GNU<\/th>GPL<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
            A project \/ OS initiative<\/strong><\/td>A software license<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
            Develops free software<\/td>Defines rules for using software<\/td><\/tr>
            Started in 1983<\/td>First released in 1989<\/td><\/tr>
            Provides tools & utilities<\/td>Protects user freedom<\/td><\/tr>
            Example: GNU Bash<\/td>Example: GPL v2, GPL v3<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
            \n\n\n\n

            📝 One-line exam answers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • GNU<\/strong>: A free software project to create a Unix-like OS<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • GPL<\/strong>: A free software license that guarantees user freedoms<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Copyleft<\/strong>: Modified GPL code must remain GPL<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              🐧 GNU What is GNU? GNU stands for GNU\u2019s Not Unix (recursive acronym 😄) It is a free software project started in 1983 to create a Unix-like operating system that is completely free. Founder Goal of GNU To give users freedom, not just free-of-cost software. GNU provides 📌 Important exam line: Linux kernel + GNU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unix"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions\/416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitalgoswami.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}