Ubuntu's not GNU/Linux?

[Sam Tuke]

I find it hard to believe that it is a licensing issue - many other commercial distributions mention Linux repeatedly on their websites (Suse, RHEL, Mandriva...), and if it were because of this then why would they be able to put it on other pages, and just not the front page?

Linux is a trademark (and I've gone through the sub-licensing process of it myself), but there is nothing stopping companies referencing it - "based on Linux", "a version of Linux" etc. are all acceptable references to the term.

Also GNU's opinion isn't relevant to Ubuntu's ability to refer to Linux as far as I can see - they have no rights to the word or its application; what power could they have to prevent an organisation from using it?

I'm not aware of any good reason for Ubuntu hiding the fact that its based on GNU/Linux.

> Sam,
> 
> That is because they can't. It is about licensing. They ship non-free or
> proprietary software with their distribution, such as Flash which prohibits
> them from adhering to the 4 freedoms of the GNU philosophy. You can find
> GNU's own stance on Ubuntu
> here.<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/common-distros.html>
> 
> Gregory