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Android seems to be the most popular Linux distro on the planet, though? Does it use systemd? I was under the impression that it doesn't, but as it often is, I

Android seems to be the most popular Linux distro on the planet, though? Does it use systemd? I was under the impression that it doesn't, but as it often is, I might be wrong.

freedomben 3y ago
Technically Android runs the Linux kernel, but I wouldn't consider it a "Linux distro" in anywhere near the same sense as I would an Ubuntu or Fedora, etc. The vast majority of Android users don't even know they're running the Linux kernel, which is not true of "distros."
- taneliv 3y ago
  I would imagine the vast majority of OpenWRT users don't know they're running the Linux kernel. It was installed by the manufacturer or the operator. Assuming that's true, does it make OpenWRT not a distro? I understand your usage of the word "distro". I think it's useful, but also quite a bit misleading (for example, Wikipedia[1] lists Android as a distro). Perhaps there ought to be another word for distributions of Linux that require user to take active part in either replacing a manufacturers' choice or setting it up from scratch on an otherwise "empty" system. But I don't know what it would be. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions
  - freedomben 3y ago
    > I would imagine the vast majority of OpenWRT users don't know they're running the Linux kernel. It was installed by the manufacturer or the operator. Assuming that's true, does it make OpenWRT not a distro? My gut is to not consider OpenWRT a distro since it's usually just the software part of a network appliance and many/most users don't know they're running it, although I concede that it does qualify in most senses as a distro: downloadable image, a package manager, is a complete product that uses the linux kernel, etc. I fully concede that my opinion of "what makes a distro" is subjective and arbitrary. It's very much the Linux distro version of Stewart's test for obscenity[1] and is a pretty unhelpful standard which value is quite low :-) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it

Android seems to be the most popular Linux distro on the planet, though? Does it use systemd? I was under the impression that it doesn't, but as it often is, I might be wrong.

freedomben 3y ago

Technically Android runs the Linux kernel, but I wouldn't consider it a "Linux distro" in anywhere near the same sense as I would an Ubuntu or Fedora, etc. The vast majority of Android users don't even know they're running the Linux kernel, which is not true of "distros."

taneliv 3y ago
I would imagine the vast majority of OpenWRT users don't know they're running the Linux kernel. It was installed by the manufacturer or the operator. Assuming that's true, does it make OpenWRT not a distro? I understand your usage of the word "distro". I think it's useful, but also quite a bit misleading (for example, Wikipedia[1] lists Android as a distro). Perhaps there ought to be another word for distributions of Linux that require user to take active part in either replacing a manufacturers' choice or setting it up from scratch on an otherwise "empty" system. But I don't know what it would be. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions
- freedomben 3y ago
  > I would imagine the vast majority of OpenWRT users don't know they're running the Linux kernel. It was installed by the manufacturer or the operator. Assuming that's true, does it make OpenWRT not a distro? My gut is to not consider OpenWRT a distro since it's usually just the software part of a network appliance and many/most users don't know they're running it, although I concede that it does qualify in most senses as a distro: downloadable image, a package manager, is a complete product that uses the linux kernel, etc. I fully concede that my opinion of "what makes a distro" is subjective and arbitrary. It's very much the Linux distro version of Stewart's test for obscenity[1] and is a pretty unhelpful standard which value is quite low :-) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it