different distributions == different "operating systems"?
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From: jellybean stonerfish on 16 Feb 2010 11:30 On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:40:08 +0100, Magnus Warker wrote: > Hi, > > I lately talked to a collegue who said that Debian, Ubuntu and SLES are > different "operating systems". I said that there is only one linux (at > www.kernel.org) and that these are just distributions with different > packages and package management solutions. But he insisted that there > are also different operating systems. > > Well, I know that SuSE makes changes to the kernel for some reasons. > Could it be that he meant such things that make a unique operating > system? What dou you think? > > Magnus I think that the different linux distros are different OSes. The linux package is only the kernel of the system. If you look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_operating_systems you will see a different view, that linux is the OS and there are multiple distros. On the wiki page, GNU is also listed as an OS. The GNU OS does not need to use the linux kernel. It can also use the hurd kernel. Does using the linux kernel with a GNU OS make the OS a linux OS?
From: unruh on 16 Feb 2010 11:40 On 2010-02-16, jellybean stonerfish <stonerfish(a)geocities.com> wrote: > On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:40:08 +0100, Magnus Warker wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> I lately talked to a collegue who said that Debian, Ubuntu and SLES are >> different "operating systems". I said that there is only one linux (at >> www.kernel.org) and that these are just distributions with different >> packages and package management solutions. But he insisted that there >> are also different operating systems. >> >> Well, I know that SuSE makes changes to the kernel for some reasons. >> Could it be that he meant such things that make a unique operating >> system? What dou you think? >> >> Magnus > > I think that the different linux distros are different OSes. The It is like the definition of a species. If members from the different groups can reliably mate (ie produce fertile children) it is the same species. If you can run programs from the one on the other, they are the same operating system. You can. > linux package is only the kernel of the system. If you look at > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_operating_systems you will see > a different view, that linux is the OS and there are multiple distros. > On the wiki page, GNU is also listed as an OS. The GNU OS does not > need to use the linux kernel. It can also use the hurd kernel. Does > using the linux kernel with a GNU OS make the OS a linux OS? Gnu is not an OS. It is a group of user programs. Hurd is an OS. > > >
From: AZ Nomad on 16 Feb 2010 11:48 On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:30:42 GMT, jellybean stonerfish <stonerfish(a)geocities.com> wrote: >On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:40:08 +0100, Magnus Warker wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I lately talked to a collegue who said that Debian, Ubuntu and SLES are >> different "operating systems". I said that there is only one linux (at >> www.kernel.org) and that these are just distributions with different >> packages and package management solutions. But he insisted that there >> are also different operating systems. >> >> Well, I know that SuSE makes changes to the kernel for some reasons. >> Could it be that he meant such things that make a unique operating >> system? What dou you think? >> >> Magnus >I think that the different linux distros are different OSes. The >linux package is only the kernel of the system. If you look at >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_operating_systems you will see >a different view, that linux is the OS and there are multiple distros. >On the wiki page, GNU is also listed as an OS. The GNU OS does not >need to use the linux kernel. It can also use the hurd kernel. Does >using the linux kernel with a GNU OS make the OS a linux OS? Can you name a single instance of a distro that is "gnu os" and doesn't use the linux kernel?
From: ray on 16 Feb 2010 12:04 On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:40:08 +0100, Magnus Warker wrote: > Hi, > > I lately talked to a collegue who said that Debian, Ubuntu and SLES are > different "operating systems". I said that there is only one linux (at > www.kernel.org) and that these are just distributions with different > packages and package management solutions. But he insisted that there > are also different operating systems. > > Well, I know that SuSE makes changes to the kernel for some reasons. > Could it be that he meant such things that make a unique operating > system? What dou you think? > > Magnus Answer would depend on what defines an 'operating system'. You might begin by going over the wikipedia article on 'operating systems' together and see what the defining features are generally considered to be. I'd generally lean towards 'GNU/Linux' being a family of operating systems with each distribution being it's own.
From: ray on 16 Feb 2010 12:06
On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:48:09 -0600, AZ Nomad wrote: > On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:30:42 GMT, jellybean stonerfish > <stonerfish(a)geocities.com> wrote: >>On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:40:08 +0100, Magnus Warker wrote: > >>> Hi, >>> >>> I lately talked to a collegue who said that Debian, Ubuntu and SLES >>> are different "operating systems". I said that there is only one linux >>> (at www.kernel.org) and that these are just distributions with >>> different packages and package management solutions. But he insisted >>> that there are also different operating systems. >>> >>> Well, I know that SuSE makes changes to the kernel for some reasons. >>> Could it be that he meant such things that make a unique operating >>> system? What dou you think? >>> >>> Magnus > >>I think that the different linux distros are different OSes. The linux >>package is only the kernel of the system. If you look at >>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_operating_systems you will see a >>different view, that linux is the OS and there are multiple distros. On >>the wiki page, GNU is also listed as an OS. The GNU OS does not need to >>use the linux kernel. It can also use the hurd kernel. Does using the >>linux kernel with a GNU OS make the OS a linux OS? > > Can you name a single instance of a distro that is "gnu os" and doesn't > use the linux kernel? GNU Hurd is or was under development - did/does not use the Linux kernel. |