It's just completely arbitrary. Other than "It uses a linux kernel" there's no list anywhere of what makes something "a real Linux". Everything around the kerne

It's just completely arbitrary. Other than "It uses a linux kernel" there's no list anywhere of what makes something "a real Linux". Everything around the kernel is a pile of reusable components that make up an operating system. As far as I can tell there's no gatekeeper that says "Tool A in combination with the kernel is a real linux, but android components don't count." And no one could be that gatekeeper because Free Software lets people use what they want. So who draws that line? This is a list of complaints of what happens when putting certain blocks that make an OS not work like a cohesive whole. One vendor (Android) decided to use an entirely different set a blocks (as is their right), and then people are like "Well that doesn't count." How does it not count? If you don't like the set of blocks that are out there you make your own blocks, that seems to be a fundamental point of using OSS in the first place, the right to say "I want to use different blocks". It's not any less a Linux than my Ubuntu machine or my Nest thermostat or whatever flavor is on my router.