Apart from being open source what is Linux? Could I not create my own operating system that is different to windows or Macos and call it Steve, again there might be an awnser for this and sounds stupid but its more out of curiosity.

  • Lvxferre
    48•11 months ago

    “Linux” has two meanings. One of them is the kernel itself; another is a collection of operating systems, that Stallman would call “GNU plus Linux” instead.

    The later involves two factors. A “hard” one is the presence of the Linux kernel; but there’s also two softer and fuzzier ones:

    • the operating system behaves like other OSes that the user calls “Linux”. For example you’re expected to have a /home/username, you can install a different DE/WM if you want, this kind of stuff.
    • the OS is open in letter and in spirit. This is ideological but ideology is damn important when dealing with Linux.

    A good example of both is ChromeOS: people don’t usually call it “Linux”, even if it uses the Linux kernel. It’s simply too atypical in behaviour, and ideologically too distant from the open source movement.

    • rentar42
      20•11 months ago

      Just a little addition: the majority of things that people associate with Linux as per your first item are actually shared by many/most Unix-like OS and are defined via the various POSIX standards.

      That’s not to say that Linux doesn’t have it’s own peculiarities, but they are fewer than many people think.

      • Lvxferre
        7•11 months ago

        They do - and in some cases you can fit both items to a T, without fitting the “hard” requirement (Linux kernel); that was the case with Debian/kFreeBSD for example. (And even “vanilla” *BSDs feel right at home for most Linux users, I think.)