this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2024
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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I found this netbook(?) somewhere in old things and just wonder: can linux be installed on it?

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[–] beyond@linkage.ds8.zone 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

GNU/Linux != Linux

Linux is a kernel

GNU/Linux is the GNU userland (tools and libraries) combined with the Linux kernel to form a complete operating system

Android is Linux but not GNU. So are Alpine, postmarketOS, and others I can't think of

Linux is to an operating system as bread is to a sandwich... an essential component, but a slice of bread by itself does not make a sandwich make

[–] tate@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 4 months ago

Most of what you said is exactly my point. It's true the word Linux, used properly, refers to a kernel and not an operating system. But that's not the way the word is used in practice, and it is not what OP meant when they used it. They meant " an OS with the Linux kernel and GNU userspace utilities." When the word Linux is used that way, Android is not Linux.

[–] fossphi@lemm.ee 3 points 4 months ago

I feel like that's precisely the point they tried to make