GNU
Hard Drive Recovery - GNU
GNU is a computer operating system prepared entirely of free software. Initiated by Richard Stallman, GNU is developed by the GNU Project, and programs released are called GNU packages or GNU programs.
The system’s basic components include the GNU Compiler Collection, the GNU Binary Utilities, the bash shell, the GNU C library, and GNU Core Utilities.
Though nearly all components have been in use for a decade, its official kernel, GNU Hurd, is incomplete and not all GNU components work with it. Thus, the third-party Linux kernel is most commonly used.
The initial plan for GNU was to be mostly Unix-compatible, while adding enhancements where they were useful. By 1990, the GNU system had an extensible text editor (Emacs), a successful optimizing compiler (GCC), and most of the core libraries and utilities of a standard UNIX distribution.
In 1980s there was not much free software, but there was the X Window System for graphical display, the TeX typesetting system, and the Mach microkernel. These components were integrated into GNU.
Most GNU software is distributed under GPL. A minority is distributed under LGPL, and some packages are distributed under permissive free software licenses. Prominent components of the GNU system include the GNU Compiler Collection, the GNU C Library, the GNU Emacs text editor, and the GNOME desktop environment.
Many GNU programs have been ported to a multitude of other operating systems, including various proprietary platforms such as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. They are often installed on proprietary UNIX systems as a replacement for proprietary utilities.
