I can't see how that matches up with any definition of "subvert" I'm familiar with.
There are reasonable argument pro and con the whole "Gnu Linux" thing, many of them silly and some cogent. But nobody was subverting (or attempting to) anything that I can see.
Seemed like it was to undermine Linus and place GNU on the same level as Linux kernel. (hurd) Don't get me wrong RMS is someone I am glad is alive and engaged with the community but I disagree with him most of the time.
There are reasonable argument pro and con the whole "Gnu Linux" thing, many of them silly and some cogent. But nobody was subverting (or attempting to) anything that I can see.