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Linux is NOT an OS and Linus did not create the OS. The OS is GNU the kernel is Linux. Thus you are comparing numbers for a kernel (Linux in Android OS versions

Linux is NOT an OS and Linus did not create the OS. The OS is GNU the kernel is Linux. Thus you are comparing numbers for a kernel (Linux in Android OS versions) vs. numbers of OS's (Windows, OSX, iOS). This isn't a technicality either. Get it straight because as the article stands, it's unresearched garbage.

vidarh 14y ago
As much as the Linux kernel itself is not an OS, neither is it correct to generalize the way you do. There are tons of devices that run Linux that don't include GNU tools. I've personally ported Linux to devices that didn't run any GNU userland at all, yet that had a recognizable Linux/Unix-y interface. For many applications, the differences in kernel will in fact matter more in terms of portability than the userland will - I've written more than one application where I had to deal with differences between BSD vs. Linux kernels, for example, but where the userland didn't matter one iota.
aleprok 14y ago
GNU is not either the operation system as without Hurd, Linux or some other kernel you can not use the GNU tools. GNU/Linux is a collection of software which forms the operation system though this collection can contain even more software and with different collection it becomes different operation system which is why Android is Android and Ubuntu is Ubuntu, etc. But Linux will always be the key component of operation systems using Linux as kernel and we Linux fan boys will always be happy when Linux is used as a Kernel and will follow metrics about operation systems using it.
- lucian303 14y ago
  And without GNU tools, Linux by itself is also useless without GNU tools (unless you can compile C by hand). GNU/Linux is the OS. Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. are distributions of this OS.
  - yxhuvud 14y ago
    I would be very surprised if it wasn't possible to compile the kernel using Clang. Hmm. Does anyone know if someone has tried to make a Linux dist based on the similar tools the BSD world have? I realize they probably would have to be modified quite heavily considering the architechture of BSD, but I've seen stranger things done in computing :)
  - aleprok 14y ago
    You seriously think GCC is the only C compiler which exists? Though now you understood that GNU/Linux is the OS and not only GNU. Though it is true that you need to patch the stock Linux to compile it with some other compiler like Intel CC.
  - jeltz 14y ago
    Android, which this very article is about, is Linux without GNU tools. The Linux Kernel can also be compiled with at least ICC and Clang.
  - josteink 14y ago
    > And without GNU tools, Linux by itself is also useless. A world of Android-devices disagree with your definition of "useless". And so does my router and NAS (which both comes with Busybox, not GNU tools).
adrianm 14y ago
I've heard the argument that Linux is not actually an OS several times; but I must admit I don't completely understand it. Why is it so inappropriate to conflate the operating system with the kernel? Perhaps this is just the operating systems course I took in college talking, but I recall that an operating system is defined not by the programs in user space, but rather by how everything is handled behind the scenes; in kernel space. Process management, threads, interprocess communication, memory management, the file system structure, input/output, network primitives... Aren't these responsibilities of the operating system? All of these programs and low level interfaces are provided by the operating system, and thus by Linux and not by the GNU utilities.
- riffraff 14y ago
  "OS" is a vague term, but for example > Process management, threads, interprocess communication, memory management, the file system structure, input/output, network primitives... Aren't these responsibilities of the operating system? they are, and they don't need to be in the kernel, which would be enough to say that a kernel is not an OS. Even ignoring stuff like user space drivers/FS/network/threads, you usually use some user space APIs to interface with the kernel. And maybe you need something to actually be able to launch programs, an init system, some login process etc.. FWIW, the definition I had in school(s) was more loose, on the likes of "the OS provides the basic functionalities to run and control programs".
- lucian303 14y ago
  The OS is way more than the kernel. Device drivers for example. Compilers (while technically ran in user-land, try to build a kernel without them). Etc, etc. I don't know what they teach you at school, but I'm sure you can figure it out from here on.
  - adrianm 14y ago
    "I don't know what they teach you in school, but I'm pretty sure you can figure it out from here on." Your statement is pretty condescending. I'm not sure what I said to deserve that. "The OS is way more than the kernel. Device drivers for example. Compilers..." Your first sentence makes a broad generalization. As far as device drivers go; the operating system provides the interface for such drivers to be programmed and work together with other devices in a way that should be transparent to the programmer. This is part of the I/O system that an OS should provide. Classic OS responsibility, but not "way more than the kernel". The interfaces are provided by the kernel. As far as compilers go, I obviously agree they are a necessary component of any extensible platform; but they are not 'technically' ran in user-land. They ARE application/user programs! They are not part of the operating system. If you insist on playing the "technicality" card here, you can't have it both ways.
jcfrei 14y ago
ugh, here they come again, the idealistic free software guys who couldn't get their own kernel together. nobody gives a shit whether it's called GNU/Linux or just Linux and whether a kernel gives the operating system its name or whether its name is derived from a combination of underlying tools + kernel. The rise of Linux is a fantastic testament for the power of open source operating systems and let's leave it at that.
10098 14y ago
I like to call Linux Linux instead of GNU/Linux just to piss off people like you :-)

vidarh 14y ago

As much as the Linux kernel itself is not an OS, neither is it correct to generalize the way you do. There are tons of devices that run Linux that don't include GNU tools. I've personally ported Linux to devices that didn't run any GNU userland at all, yet that had a recognizable Linux/Unix-y interface. For many applications, the differences in kernel will in fact matter more in terms of portability than the userland will - I've written more than one application where I had to deal with differences between BSD vs. Linux kernels, for example, but where the userland didn't matter one iota.

aleprok 14y ago

GNU is not either the operation system as without Hurd, Linux or some other kernel you can not use the GNU tools. GNU/Linux is a collection of software which forms the operation system though this collection can contain even more software and with different collection it becomes different operation system which is why Android is Android and Ubuntu is Ubuntu, etc. But Linux will always be the key component of operation systems using Linux as kernel and we Linux fan boys will always be happy when Linux is used as a Kernel and will follow metrics about operation systems using it.

lucian303 14y ago
And without GNU tools, Linux by itself is also useless without GNU tools (unless you can compile C by hand). GNU/Linux is the OS. Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. are distributions of this OS.
- yxhuvud 14y ago
  I would be very surprised if it wasn't possible to compile the kernel using Clang. Hmm. Does anyone know if someone has tried to make a Linux dist based on the similar tools the BSD world have? I realize they probably would have to be modified quite heavily considering the architechture of BSD, but I've seen stranger things done in computing :)
- aleprok 14y ago
  You seriously think GCC is the only C compiler which exists? Though now you understood that GNU/Linux is the OS and not only GNU. Though it is true that you need to patch the stock Linux to compile it with some other compiler like Intel CC.
- jeltz 14y ago
  Android, which this very article is about, is Linux without GNU tools. The Linux Kernel can also be compiled with at least ICC and Clang.
- josteink 14y ago
  > And without GNU tools, Linux by itself is also useless. A world of Android-devices disagree with your definition of "useless". And so does my router and NAS (which both comes with Busybox, not GNU tools).

adrianm 14y ago

I've heard the argument that Linux is not actually an OS several times; but I must admit I don't completely understand it. Why is it so inappropriate to conflate the operating system with the kernel? Perhaps this is just the operating systems course I took in college talking, but I recall that an operating system is defined not by the programs in user space, but rather by how everything is handled behind the scenes; in kernel space. Process management, threads, interprocess communication, memory management, the file system structure, input/output, network primitives... Aren't these responsibilities of the operating system? All of these programs and low level interfaces are provided by the operating system, and thus by Linux and not by the GNU utilities.

riffraff 14y ago
"OS" is a vague term, but for example > Process management, threads, interprocess communication, memory management, the file system structure, input/output, network primitives... Aren't these responsibilities of the operating system? they are, and they don't need to be in the kernel, which would be enough to say that a kernel is not an OS. Even ignoring stuff like user space drivers/FS/network/threads, you usually use some user space APIs to interface with the kernel. And maybe you need something to actually be able to launch programs, an init system, some login process etc.. FWIW, the definition I had in school(s) was more loose, on the likes of "the OS provides the basic functionalities to run and control programs".
lucian303 14y ago
The OS is way more than the kernel. Device drivers for example. Compilers (while technically ran in user-land, try to build a kernel without them). Etc, etc. I don't know what they teach you at school, but I'm sure you can figure it out from here on.
- adrianm 14y ago
  "I don't know what they teach you in school, but I'm pretty sure you can figure it out from here on." Your statement is pretty condescending. I'm not sure what I said to deserve that. "The OS is way more than the kernel. Device drivers for example. Compilers..." Your first sentence makes a broad generalization. As far as device drivers go; the operating system provides the interface for such drivers to be programmed and work together with other devices in a way that should be transparent to the programmer. This is part of the I/O system that an OS should provide. Classic OS responsibility, but not "way more than the kernel". The interfaces are provided by the kernel. As far as compilers go, I obviously agree they are a necessary component of any extensible platform; but they are not 'technically' ran in user-land. They ARE application/user programs! They are not part of the operating system. If you insist on playing the "technicality" card here, you can't have it both ways.

jcfrei 14y ago

ugh, here they come again, the idealistic free software guys who couldn't get their own kernel together. nobody gives a shit whether it's called GNU/Linux or just Linux and whether a kernel gives the operating system its name or whether its name is derived from a combination of underlying tools + kernel. The rise of Linux is a fantastic testament for the power of open source operating systems and let's leave it at that.

10098 14y ago

I like to call Linux Linux instead of GNU/Linux just to piss off people like you :-)