Re: GNU/Linux

Oscar Levi (elf@buici.com)
Wed, 12 May 1999 23:08:47 -0700

It would be precipitous to endow the IEEE definition with significant
meaning. There is no agreement among computer scientists, engineers,
programmers, or tape-monkeys about the essential components of an
operating system. For UN*X, a kernel without a shell is not very
useful. It is the shell that is responsible for much of the user
experience, including the execution of programs. Yet, the shell may
be exchanged for another piece of software. Some people may believe
that the OS includes all of the software packaged together and
distributed as a single entity. Others would say that the kernel and
drivers are the only true OS components. These points of view
approximate the extremes between which most observers stand. It is no
more likely that readers of this list will come to a consensus than
will a clutch of professors.

On Mon, May 10, 1999 at 04:34:06PM -0400, Richard B. Johnson wrote:
> On Mon, 10 May 1999, Anonymous wrote:
> [SNIPPED]
> > ... "the whole GNU operating system, as well
> > as its variant, the GNU/Linux operating system"
>
> ANSI/IEEE Std 729-1983 Software Engineering Terminology, IEEE
> Software Engineering Standards, ISBN 1-55937-008-4
> States in part (pp 25);
>
> " Operating system. Software that controls the execution of
> programs. An operating system may provide services such as
> resource allocation, scheduling, input/output control, and
> data management. Although operating systems are predominately
> software, partial or complete hardware implementations are
> possible. (ISO) An operating system provides support in a
> single spot rather than forcing each program to be concerned
> with controlling hardware. See also system software. "
>

[deletia]

- O

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