Just what is “Linux”?
Recently I have had several people call me on mis-stepping the nomenclature surrounding the Linux operating system. But I get this a lot, and from all points of the spectrum: From newbies to power users. The central issue that I have is that this issue causes great confusion with newbies and anger with power users.
Technically speaking…
If you look at the Wikipedia definition of Linux you will find it terms Linux as the “generic term for UNIX-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel.” So already we have the purists up in arms. Why is that? The purists speak of “Linux” as nothing more than a kernel. But if Linux is only a kernel, what is an operating system? Again, going back to Wikipedia, the definition of an operating system is an “…interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of a computer.” No mention of a kernel.
If you look up Microsoft Windows on Wikipedia, you find no mention of a kernel. Why is that? Why, when attempting to define an operating system is there such scare references to the kernel? I suggest this is a matter of simplification used to help the average person to understand the operating system.
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