Right. Not so much. That was exactly the last thing to happen as it turned out. He and everyone else in the effort worked on the tools and apps.
By contrast:
> I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and
professional like gnu)
> and things seem to work. This implies that I’ll get something practical within a few months
Anyhow, torvalds had already put in the work on the kernel and wanted feedback.
Torvalds had a kernel and no tools. RMS had tools but no kernel, so the inevitable happened and they were wed. Torvalds even chose the RMS version of a marriage license.
The marriage is fruitful, but RMS is frigid and bitchy the whole time, solely over the name of the child -- even though the child has matured and gone on to a brilliant career they can both be proud of.
This would also be a good time to note that Torvalds is not the one who chose the name of Linux -- usenet chose it.
I have great respect for RMS and admire his courage (and self-discipline) very much, but I really wish he'd let that thing about the kid's name go. Just let it go already Richard.
Well no, Torvalds had a kernel and all the tools GNU had created.
And Linux is (entirely legitimately) the name of the kernel - the dispute[1] is over the name of systems running a bunch of GNU code on top of a Linux kernel.
[1]: Elsewhere it has been contended that RMS has pushed for the name to apply to the kernel itself as well. I don't believe that was ever the case (though will certainly update my beliefs if presented with evidence) but am far more confident that it is not his current position.
