this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] ThiefUserPermissions@lemmy.myserv.one 43 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The video claims ada lovelace did not write the first computer program but it would kind of depend how you define what that is. If you check wikipedia it states:

“During 1842–1849, Ada Lovelace translated the memoir of Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea about Charles Babbage's newest proposed machine: the Analytical Engine; she supplemented the memoir with notes that specified in detail a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers with the engine, recognized by most of historians as the world's first published computer program.”

From : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_programming_languages

This would indicate its not a cut and dry as the youtuber suggests and also I would assume he is not a historian(no clue who he is) so its unclear why his opinion or definition of computer program should usurp that of most historians who would recognise a term may change over time and be less well defined initially when inspiring a new technology?

[–] CarbonBasedNPU@lemm.ee 12 points 16 hours ago

Because women bad.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 11 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

This would indicate its not a cut and dry as the youtuber suggests and also I would assume he is not a historian(no clue who he is) so its unclear why his opinion or definition of computer program should usurp that of most historians who would recognise a term may change over time and be less well defined initially when inspiring a new technology?

He's a long-standing member of the tech pundit community (dare I say the Linux community), and in recent years has been exposed as antivax, anti-woke, and a bigot. Before that he was just a confident sounding asshole with sometimes interesting opinions.

[–] ThiefUserPermissions@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Fair. I didnt check any of the other myths so some may well be myths. Just interesting to me that his opinion is stated as fact when its a bit of a grey area and one could easily interpret her to be the first programmer in some ways. Its not like a computer has to exist to write a computer program, for example, you can imagine a world where all computers are destroyed in an event but a surviving programmer can still write a computer program if you just handed them a stone tablet and charcoal. The non existence of a computer isnt a problem, and a computer program written in a textbook is also valid.

The mac osx is linux certainly is a less controversial myth.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

For the record I wasn't disagreeing with your point or criticizing it at all. Just trying to give some context that might explain what you were observing.

🙂

Yes understand completely:)