<html lang="en"> <head> <title>Why GNU Octave? - Frequently asked questions about Octave (with answers)</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html"> <meta name="description" content="Frequently asked questions about Octave (with answers)"> <meta name="generator" content="makeinfo 4.13"> <link title="Top" rel="start" href="index.html#Top"> <link rel="up" href="What-is-Octave_003f.html#What-is-Octave_003f" title="What is Octave?"> <link rel="prev" href="Who-develops-Octave_003f.html#Who-develops-Octave_003f" title="Who develops Octave?"> <link rel="next" href="What-version-should-I-use_003f.html#What-version-should-I-use_003f" title="What version should I use?"> <link href="http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/" rel="generator-home" title="Texinfo Homepage"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> <style type="text/css"><!-- pre.display { font-family:inherit } pre.format { font-family:inherit } pre.smalldisplay { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller } pre.smallformat { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller } pre.smallexample { font-size:smaller } pre.smalllisp { font-size:smaller } span.sc { font-variant:small-caps } span.roman { font-family:serif; font-weight:normal; } span.sansserif { font-family:sans-serif; font-weight:normal; } --></style> </head> <body> <div class="node"> <a name="Why-GNU-Octave%3f"></a> <a name="Why-GNU-Octave_003f"></a> <p> Next: <a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="What-version-should-I-use_003f.html#What-version-should-I-use_003f">What version should I use?</a>, Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="Who-develops-Octave_003f.html#Who-develops-Octave_003f">Who develops Octave?</a>, Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="What-is-Octave_003f.html#What-is-Octave_003f">What is Octave?</a> <hr> </div> <h3 class="section">1.2 Why GNU Octave?</h3> <p>The GNU Project was launched in 1984 to develop a complete Unix-like operating system which is free software: the GNU system. <p>GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix”; it is pronounced guh-noo, approximately like canoe. <p>The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is the principal organizational sponsor of the GNU Project. <p>Octave became GNU Octave in 1997 (beginning with version 2.0.6). This meant agreeing to consider Octave a part of the GNU Project and support the efforts of the FSF. However, Octave is not and has never been developed by the FSF. <p>For more information about the GNU project, see <a href="www.gnu.org">www.gnu.org</a>. <p><a name="index-FSF-_005bFree-Software-Foundation_005d-2"></a><a name="index-GNU-_005bGNU_0027s-not-unix_005d-3"></a> </body></html>