Best way to say "GNU/Linux"

[diligentcircle]

EDIT: Poll removed; see http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php/topic/14171-names-for-gnulinux-that-bother-you/ for a similar, but more useful poll.

Slightly different from another poll, I want to hear what sounds better in your opinion when spoken. The options:

"g'noo slash lih-nuks" (GNU slash Linux): A slightly nonstandard way of saying "GNU/Linux" to avoid sounding like "GNU Linux", as it might sound like if the slash was silent as it normally is.

"g'noo plus lih-nuks" (GNU+Linux): Substituting "slash" for "plus" to sound a little more natural; the plus sign, unlike the slash, is not normally silent. It's an unusual use of the plus sign, however.

"g'noo" (GNU): Just "GNU" by itself, which avoids any ambiguity and sounds natural, but doesn't give any credit to Linux, the kernel.

"lig-nuks" (LiGNUx): A combination of the words "GNU" and "Linux", suggested by the FSF in the 1990s but then dropped when a large number of people didn't like it.

"lih-nuks g'noo" (Linux/GNU): Since everyone knows that Linux is a piece of software and not an organization, this pronunciation prevents misunderstandings that "g'noo lih-nux" creates while still sounding natural. If it is misunderstood, it would be misunderstood as "Linux GNU", which can at least be interpreted as "the Linux varient of GNU", which is not a terrible description; GNU/Linux is the variant of GNU that uses Linux as the kernel.

"g'noo with lih-nuks" (GNU with Linux): More natural than "GNU slash Linux" and "GNU plus Linux", but not unclear in any way.

"g'noo and lih-nuks" (GNU and Linux): More natural than "GNU slash Linux", but means the same thing.

These possibilities were omitted from the poll on purpose:

"g'noo lih-nuks" (GNU/Linux): Although this is the most natural way to pronounce "GNU/Linux", people hearing about the system for the first time are likely to mishear it as "GNU Linux", which is wrong no matter how you look at it.

Any possibility that says "GNU" as "jee en yoo": This is incorrect according to the GNU project, but more importantly, it's extremely clumsy and slow.

Any possibility that says "GNU" as "noo" (without the hard "G"): This is incorrect according to the GNU project, but more importantly, it is easily misheard as "new".

Any possibility that says "Linux" as "lie-nucks", "lee-nuks", etc: This is incorrect according to Linus Torvalds and the Linux project. The correct pronunciation is "Lih-nuks"

"lih-nuks" (Linux): This is a terrible misnomer that sucks out all mention of the GNU operating system despite how important it is.

 

[EssoAir]

I dont say "slash" or "plus". I just say "gnu linux" no need for third word to be thrown in the middle

 

[AngryPie]

I call it "Linux".

 

[comradekingu]

I dont even.

 

[_wb_]

I use "GNU/Linux" in writing (when referring to the whole OS of course; when referring to the kernel I write "Linux", "the Linux kernel" or "the kernel, Linux").

In speech, I use "Linux" when I'm short on time, the name of the distro ("Debian", "Ubuntu", etc), "GNU Linux" or "GNU slash Linux" when I'm pronouncing "GNU/Linux", and also sometimes "GNU with Linux" or "GNU and Linux".

In my opinion, using the "right" name is not that important. The important thing is to educate people about the aims of the GNU project, and to correct them when they are claiming that the OS or the movement started with some Finnish student doing some stuff in the early nineties.

 

[Mr_Loon]

Also, how do you say Linux? Is it Lin as in line, or Lin to rhyme with bin?


Most people I know pronounce it incorrectly with Lin sounding like line.


However most people I know pronounce pronunciation incorrectly

 

[ZXDunny]

I pronounce it "lie-nucks" without the hard G, as it doesn't exist in the name. I gather the correct way to pronounce it is "linn-ucks" but that sounds even more retarded than adding the "guh-noo" at the start.

D.

 

[EssoAir]

I say "li-nix" as in "Lithium" and "Nick's Baseball"

 

[Dimacus]

I pronounce it like Lee-nu-x, with a long-low u like in you.

I almost never add the gnu/ in conversations, unless I know it's a person who has a strong opinion on whether or not to call it gnu/linux.

 

[Binky]

"Lin" - "uh.cks" for me

 

[FelixNemis]

"Lin" - "uh.cks" for me

Same here

 

[Linux-SWAT]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5IfHm6R5le0?feature=oembed

 

[diligentcircle]

Not sure how that's relevant. I made a point of not giving any options for how you pronounce each of "GNU" and "Linux", and the only option in the poll for pronouncing "Linux" is the correct way Torvalds says in that video.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

He made a funny audio clip a long time ago hosted on kernel.org, but it was removed after the hack cleanup.

 

[Asiyura]

I think that most people use these pronunciations in french

GNU : jay en(like in men) uh

Linux : li(like in lip) nucks (pretty hard to describe pronunciation in non-native language )

GNU : gnou (like the other name of wildebeest) is also used, but I don't really like it

 

[bzar]

Does not contain my option of leaving all pluses and slashes out. I just say the two as separate words. I usually just say "linux" though because I'm lazy and people usually know from context what I'm talking about.

 

[ZXDunny]

Not sure how that's relevant. I made a point of not giving any options for how you pronounce each of "GNU" and "Linux", and the only option in the poll for pronouncing "Linux" is the correct way Torvalds says in that video.

That doesn't matter. I've never actually heard people say "gnu" - the only place that happens is online from people that wear socks with their sandals.

It's just "linux" - get over it, nobody's bothered about the gnu.

D.

 

[Asiyura]

Yeah, I never really use GNU when talking about Linux.

When I use GNU it's to talk about the licence

 

[levi]

I've used 'GNU' when saying 'GNU make' to differentiate it from Microsoft nmake or unix make. When talking of the license it's just 'Gee Pea Elle'

 

[Binky]

When talking of the license it's just 'Gee Pea Elle'

quote++, I can't really imagine saying it any other way.