To summarize: It is common usage to use an operating system name to describe
the "ensemble" including OS kernel and toolset. It is incorrect usage to
call the ensemble or a particular distribution an "operating system".
Thus, "Linux" can mean either the "Linux operating system" or "the
ensemble including the Linux operating system and some set of tools."
But "Linux operating system" explicitly excludes tools, and "GNU/Linux
operating system" is meaningless unless one advances a novel meaning of the
term "operating system".
On Wed, Mar 31, 1999 at 11:54:57PM -0700, Richard Stallman wrote:
> People sometimes use the term "operating system design" to mean the
> design of kernels. However, for decades, when I've heard people talk
> about operating systems such as Unix, Multics, ITS, VMS, OS/360, or
> even Microsoft Windows, they generally did meant the whole collection
> of software, not just the kernel.
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