What many of these comments seem to be missing is that I don't think Doc Searls meant Linux the kernel when he said this. He meant Linux the OS (which some want

What many of these comments seem to be missing is that I don't think Doc Searls meant Linux the kernel when he said this. He meant Linux the OS (which some want to call GNU/Linux as he mentioned) with all these parts included. All of these components played their part in the rise of the OS and benefited from each other. The Linux kernel as well as things like the GNU project were absolutely necessary for this ecosystem to becoming a reality and that is what OS X benefited from as well.