What is GNU.
Linux is a kernel.
People often refer to the whole system as Linux, but what they really mean is GNU/Linux.
GNU is a collection of free software.
GNU is the name of a project that is focused on software freedom.
Here is a statement from GNU on Android:
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/android-and-users-freedom.htm...
An example of a backronym as a mnemonic is the Apgar score, used to assess the health of newborn babies. The rating system was devised by and named after Virginia Apgar. Ten years after the initial publication, the backronym APGAR was coined in the US as a mnemonic learning aid: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration.[6]
Many United States Congress bills have backronyms as their names; examples include the American CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) of 2020,[7][8] the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) of 2001, and the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act).[9] In the 113th Congress (2013) there were over 240 bills with such names.[10]
The Bing name was chosen through focus groups, and Microsoft decided that the name was memorable, short, and easy to spell, and that it would function well as a URL around the world. The word would remind people of the sound made during "the moment of discovery and decision making".[19] Microsoft was assisted by branding consultancy Interbrand in their search for the best name for the new search engine.[20] The name also has strong similarity to the word bingo, which is used to mean that something sought has been found or realized, as is interjected when winning the game Bingo. Microsoft advertising strategist David Webster originally proposed the name "Bang" for the same reasons the name Bing was ultimately chosen (easy to spell, one syllable, and easy to remember).
[FWIW, no mention of Bing as a backronym.]
For me it's mix of Linux kernel and a subset of common FOSS software[0] providing the boot and low-level operations, while the middleware is provided by AOSP with Dalvik/ART and the top, the whole user experience with GUI, apps and whatever. The middle and the top has absolutely nothing common with Linux.
To give you and idea - if you swap the engine in your Ford to Cummins, would you tell everyone what you are driving Cummins? No, you would tell what you are still driving Ford. The same applies to Android, if you swap the Linux kernel to something else, eg to OpenBSD kernel, would you tell what your smartphone is now running on OpenBSD? No, it's still Android, though with OpenBSD kernel.
[0] if you have Linux kernel then it doesn't makes sense to write tooling and userspace from scratch. Like you can, but.. why?
So, it IS a Linux distribution with other userspace that's not made by GNU. What some people call non-GNU/Linux. Distributions like Alpine for example would also be it.
>The same applies to Android, if you swap the Linux kernel to something else, eg to OpenBSD kernel, would you tell what your smartphone is now running on OpenBSD? No, it's still Android, though with OpenBSD kernel.
Nobody says that it wouldn't, and it also would be true for other Linux distributions. Remember Debian GNU/kFreeBSD?[0]
Now, you could argue that someone who's using the terminal in Debian GNU/kFreeBSD would notice that it's not in fact Linux, but that's a matter of expertise (not every Linux user relies on the terminal), and that's also true for Android.
So, it IS a Cummins distr^W car with other car parts that's not made by Cummins? Despite the big blue "Ford" everywhere on the car and in the documentation?
Another litmus test I often amused by is how when where is a report of a bazillion of Windows infections (especially those when a user should explicitly run the payload, not just a drive-by) then it's Windows problem, but when there is a report of bazillion of infected Android phones and tablets then of course it's not Linux and therefore it shouldn't be chalked up in any "Amount of infected computers per OS" graphs, lol.
> So, it IS a Linux distribution
Humans tends to omit unnecessary repetition and overall tends to shorten things when it's fits their current situation.
But that doesn't make "an operating system distribution based on Linux kernel with system instrumentation and userspace common to other popular operating systems based on Linux kernel" equal to "Linux distribution" or "Linux".
Normally, when it comes to CVEs you tend to see it targeted to the affected piece. E.g.: CVE-2022-38533 affecting GNU binutils and CVE-2023-25139 affecting sprintf() in glibc. Those two things are core parts of most Linux distributions, yet they are still their own distinct thing.
The fact that many times the accused piece of software is Android (like in CVE-2022-20472 or CVE-2023-21079) is just a testament of how big of a monolithic most of the Android userspace is, without ceasing to be a Linux disribution.
>But that doesn't make "an operating system distribution based on Linux kernel with system instrumentation and userspace common to other popular operating systems based on Linux kernel" equal to "Linux distribution" or "Linux".
Well, that's precisely one of the arguments[0] used in favor of naming some Linux distributions as GNU/Linux:
>Since a long name such as GNU/X11/Apache/Linux/TeX/Perl/Python/FreeCiv becomes absurd, at some point you will have to set a threshold and omit the names of the many other secondary contributions. There is no one obvious right place to set the threshold, so wherever you set it, we won't argue against it.
Counter question, is firmware on some cheap-ass $10 router is a Linux distribution? Is this cheap-ass $10 router IS Linux?
> Those two things are core parts of most Linux distributions, yet they are still their own distinct thing
Well, Explorer is the core part of the most of Windows SKUs, yet when the Explorer is at fault - it's Windows fault and goes in the stats, while millions of infected Android phones suddenly doesn't because it's not Linux, it's Android (emphasis mine). Kindergarten level of logic, yet used by grown-ass men.
Well, I think it is. Although they tend to refer to them as Linux-powered, which is still the same but with a hyphen
>Well, Explorer is the core part of the most of Windows SKUs, yet when the Explorer is at fault - it's Windows fault and goes in the stats, while millions of infected Android phones suddenly doesn't because it's not Linux, it's Android (emphasis mine). Kindergarten level of logic, yet used by grown-ass men.
Yeah, probably those things come mostly from how widely present are both Windows and Android on people's lives. It's a media preference since it wont't get you many clicks to say that there was an error on Explorer :P
Still, Android is a Linux distribution until they find a new kernel