IdjustliketointerjectforamomentWhatyou'rereferingtoasLinux,isinfact,GNU/Linux,orasI'verecentlytakentocallingit,GNUplusLinux.Linuxisnotanoperatingsystemuntoitself,butratheranotherfreecomponentofafullyfunctioningGNUsystemmadeusefulbytheGNUcorelibs,shellutilitiesandvitalsystemcomponentscomprisingafullOSasdefinedbyPOSIX.
ManycomputerusersrunamodifiedversionoftheGNUsystemeveryday,withoutrealizingit.Throughapeculiarturnofevents,theversionofGNUwhichiswidelyusedtodayisoftencalledLinux,andmanyofitsusersarenotawarethatitisbasicallytheGNUsystem,developedbytheGNUProject.
TherereallyisaLinux,andthesepeopleareusingit,butitisjustapartofthesystemtheyuse.Linuxisthekernel:theprograminthesystemthatallocatesthemachine'sresourcestotheotherprogramsthatyourun.Thekernelisanessentialpartofanoperatingsystem,butuselessbyitself;itcanonlyfunctioninthecontextofacompleteoperatingsystem.LinuxisnormallyusedincombinationwiththeGNUoperatingsystem:thewholesystemisbasicallyGNUwithLinuxadded,orGNU/Linux.Alltheso-calledLinuxdistributionsarereallydistributionsofGNU/Linux!