GNU -- G'no way...

[slanning at buphy.bu.edu (Scott Lanning)]

On Sat, 19 Feb 2000, Kevin M. Gleason wrote:
>I was lecturing to my students yesterday and was asked 'what does GNU
>stand for?'. My response was the standard line -- "Gnu Not Unix."
>My English Majors (students) said, 'You cannot include the name of the
>definition in the definition'.
>I responded, "Programmers can...ever hear of recursion?"
>
>My question... was I being a smart S or a revolutionary? OR!! Am I wrong
>entirely?

You're right. See it from the horse's, uhm, mouth as it originally
appeared in 1983:

http://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html

And I think the reason you gave (infinite recursion) is right on,
too. In response there was even, somewhere, some project was
named with a double recursion (I can't remember what one, though).

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