4 ms·

Android is not Linux any more than Chrome or Firefox is Linux just because it runs on top of it.

dandongus 5y ago
Android 'is linux' is the same way any linux distro 'is linux'.
danielheath 5y ago
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as Linux, is in fact, Android/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, Android plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning Android system made useful by the Android corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
- rbanffy 5y ago
  Android runs Linux. Android is not GNU/Linux.
  - danielheath 5y ago
    Ahh, I missed one or two substitutions. Fixed now.
    - kjeetgill 5y ago
      In that vein, should Google replace POSIX here? And maybe that cuts to the heart of the matter more then you meant to, haha.
      - pjmlp 5y ago
        They already replaced it with Java APIs, POSIX isn't a public API on Android. https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/stable_apis https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/stable_apis
  - cuillevel3 5y ago
    Wow. So normally we say: Linux is the kernel and GNU is the userland. (Remember GNU/Hurd?) So, what is Android? Does Linux run the Android userspace, or does Android run the Linux kernel...
    - teddyh 5y ago
      > Linux is the kernel and GNU is the userland No, “GNU” is the operating system project, which includes the userland components, the kernel, and everything else. Just like “Windows” is not ntkrnl.dll, nor is “Windows” the sum of explorer.exe, cmd.exe, etc. – “Windows” is the overarching project name. “GNU” is the same. People who think of “GNU” as userland components likely are influenced by the accident of 1990’s history that was the prevalence of SunOS (etc.) systems with added GNU command utilities. But the GNU command line utilities were originally meant to be for a (yet to be written) complete GNU operating system, including a GNU kernel, Hurd. But since the GNU operating system was to be compatible with Unix, and the command line utilities were good, people liked to run the command line utilities on proprietary Unix variants, and later the same happened when a Linux-based Unix system was cobbled together; the GNU utilities were there for the taking, and they were very useful in creating a complete Unix-based system, based on Linux. This probably created the confusion that GNU = userland utilities and Linux = operating system, even though almost the opposite being true.
      - cuillevel3 5y ago
        Right, I meant ".. in most Linux distributions". The kernel is Linux and the most important userland parts are from GNU. Therefore they are really GNU/Linux distributions. The GNU project has more to offer than coreutils, like Hurd.
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  I think you're joking, but unironically yes; Android/Linux is Linux, just like GNU/Linux and busybox/Linux (or however you want to call Alpine).
  - Qub3d 5y ago
    the parent comment is riffing on a copy/paste meme based on a rant attributed (likely falsely) to RMS: https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index.php/Interjection https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index.php/Interjection
    - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
      Yes, which is why I assume it's joking, in spite of it actually having some merit here.
sergeykish 5y ago
ChromeOS and FirefoxOS — yep, Linux.

Android 'is linux' is the same way any linux distro 'is linux'.

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as Linux, is in fact, Android/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, Android plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning Android system made useful by the Android corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

rbanffy 5y ago
Android runs Linux. Android is not GNU/Linux.
- danielheath 5y ago
  Ahh, I missed one or two substitutions. Fixed now.
  - kjeetgill 5y ago
    In that vein, should Google replace POSIX here? And maybe that cuts to the heart of the matter more then you meant to, haha.
    - pjmlp 5y ago
      They already replaced it with Java APIs, POSIX isn't a public API on Android. https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/stable_apis https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/stable_apis
- cuillevel3 5y ago
  Wow. So normally we say: Linux is the kernel and GNU is the userland. (Remember GNU/Hurd?) So, what is Android? Does Linux run the Android userspace, or does Android run the Linux kernel...
  - teddyh 5y ago
    > Linux is the kernel and GNU is the userland No, “GNU” is the operating system project, which includes the userland components, the kernel, and everything else. Just like “Windows” is not ntkrnl.dll, nor is “Windows” the sum of explorer.exe, cmd.exe, etc. – “Windows” is the overarching project name. “GNU” is the same. People who think of “GNU” as userland components likely are influenced by the accident of 1990’s history that was the prevalence of SunOS (etc.) systems with added GNU command utilities. But the GNU command line utilities were originally meant to be for a (yet to be written) complete GNU operating system, including a GNU kernel, Hurd. But since the GNU operating system was to be compatible with Unix, and the command line utilities were good, people liked to run the command line utilities on proprietary Unix variants, and later the same happened when a Linux-based Unix system was cobbled together; the GNU utilities were there for the taking, and they were very useful in creating a complete Unix-based system, based on Linux. This probably created the confusion that GNU = userland utilities and Linux = operating system, even though almost the opposite being true.
    - cuillevel3 5y ago
      Right, I meant ".. in most Linux distributions". The kernel is Linux and the most important userland parts are from GNU. Therefore they are really GNU/Linux distributions. The GNU project has more to offer than coreutils, like Hurd.
yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
I think you're joking, but unironically yes; Android/Linux is Linux, just like GNU/Linux and busybox/Linux (or however you want to call Alpine).
- Qub3d 5y ago
  the parent comment is riffing on a copy/paste meme based on a rant attributed (likely falsely) to RMS: https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index.php/Interjection https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index.php/Interjection
  - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    Yes, which is why I assume it's joking, in spite of it actually having some merit here.

sergeykish 5y ago

ChromeOS and FirefoxOS — yep, Linux.