Not really, GNU existed for a while before Linux and Linus' kernel slotted into the missing hole in GNU (since Hurd _really_ wasn't ready and likely won't ever

Not really, GNU existed for a while before Linux and Linus' kernel slotted into the missing hole in GNU (since Hurd _really_ wasn't ready and likely won't ever be). So I would argue that Linus chose to build an operating system, and ended up with focusing on a kernel because the rest of the system already existed. The BSDs (and Solaris) all branched from the original Unix tree, and thus have historically always just been a full OS. GNU was trying to do the same, but from scratch and as free software, but Linux came about just as GNU was getting very popular (people would replace the proprietary Unix utilities with the GNU ones). Also, the BSDs and Solaris all use GNOME or KDE -- which aren't developed solely by those people. I think this is quite reasonable actually, since desktop environments really shouldn't be tied to a single Unix-y OS.