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.
It’s also wrong, There are Linux distributions that don’t use the GNU userland such as Alpine which uses musl IIRC.
I chose to use the copypasta because it does an excellent job at answering the question asked, ‘What is Linux?’.
The answer being that it is but one part of a complete OS, rather than the OS itself, and that if he chooses, he may indeed be able to incorporate the kernel into his own OS project.
Nobody said you have to use GNU, just that it’s by far the most common form in which a Linux-based operating system takes.
