Re: Linux or GNU/Linux

[DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is all IMHO...

Linux is the kernel.

GNU is a project to create a Free operating system, which has created
such components as glibc, gcc, emacs, gdb, etc.

GNU/Linux is a combination of the two - any Linux-based operating system
that uses the GNU components.

There are other GNU-based operating systems using other kernels, such as
GNU/Hurd.

Fedora is a Linux-based distro that happens to include the GNU
components but also includes components from many other projects.

Most Linux-based distros (Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, etc) are
supersets of GNU/Linux - they use the Linux kernel and contain the GNU
project components, but also contain many other (possibly non-Free)
components.  While it's technically true to call such distros
"GNU/Linux", such a label ignores a large portion of the origin and
richness of those distros.  It would be like calling the USA "the
country that contains Boston."

Also, outside of myself, in my house we call such distros "Firefox" ;-)

Some operating systems do not use the GNU components yet are still
Linux-based, such as (I think) Android and certain special-purpose
embedded systems.  It is possible, for example, to build Newlib for
Linux, and have a Newlib/Linux system.


So, IMHO, the answer to your question is "It depends on what you're
talking about, and why."
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