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.

  • Something Burger 🍔@jlai.lu
    58·
    11 months ago

    Linux is the kernel; that is, the core of the operating system, which handles memory, hardware, inputs… Every OS has one. Windows’ is called NT, macOS’ is called Darwin.

    You don’t use the kernel, you use the OS. Linux is special because there several operating systems based on Linux; they are called distributions, and they are what you want to use.

    You can create your own Linux distribution, by bundling various software packages with the kernel, in a way that caters to specific needs or follows a philosophy (for example, Linux Mint is a distribution focused on ease of use, Archlinux on minimalism…). This is not possible with Windows because their kernel is not licensed under terms which would allow this. It is with Darwin, but unusual.

    You can also create your own kernel but this is extremely hard. Getting the computer to boot is easy enough (relatively speaking), but getting programs to run and things to display is much harder. Getting your custom kernel to a usable state is orders of magnitude harder, as it needs to work on and communicate with modern hardware and networks. Linux took more than 30 years of development by thousands of developers (some of them highly talented in a very narrow field of computing) to get to the level it’s at.

      • Daeraxa@lemmy.ml
        27·
        11 months ago

        It isn’t quite correct. Darwin is actually an open source operating system at the heart of macOS which is based mostly on a bunch of BSD and nextstep stuff. The actual kernel is XNU, based on the Mach kernel.

  • Lvxferre@lemmy.ml
    481·
    11 months ago

    “Linux” has two meanings. One of them is the kernel itself; another is a collection of operating systems, that Stallman would call “GNU plus Linux” instead.

    The later involves two factors. A “hard” one is the presence of the Linux kernel; but there’s also two softer and fuzzier ones:

    • the operating system behaves like other OSes that the user calls “Linux”. For example you’re expected to have a /home/username, you can install a different DE/WM if you want, this kind of stuff.
    • the OS is open in letter and in spirit. This is ideological but ideology is damn important when dealing with Linux.

    A good example of both is ChromeOS: people don’t usually call it “Linux”, even if it uses the Linux kernel. It’s simply too atypical in behaviour, and ideologically too distant from the open source movement.

    • rentar42@kbin.social
      201·
      11 months ago

      Just a little addition: the majority of things that people associate with Linux as per your first item are actually shared by many/most Unix-like OS and are defined via the various POSIX standards.

      That’s not to say that Linux doesn’t have it’s own peculiarities, but they are fewer than many people think.

      • Lvxferre@lemmy.ml
        7·
        11 months ago

        They do - and in some cases you can fit both items to a T, without fitting the “hard” requirement (Linux kernel); that was the case with Debian/kFreeBSD for example. (And even “vanilla” *BSDs feel right at home for most Linux users, I think.)

  • 4350pChris@feddit.de
    393·
    11 months ago

    I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

    Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

    There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux!

    • unique_hemp@discuss.tchncs.de
      14·
      11 months ago

      The open source licences of Linux and the BSDs allow verbatim copying. That’s kind of the point of OSS.

      In fact, Mac OS is a verbatim copy of a BSD.

      • PAPPP@lemmy.sdf.org
        5·
        11 months ago

        I’ll give them a little credit: OS X is not quite built on a verbatim copy, it’s cobbled from a few open source and licensed parts, and a not-insignificant amount of in-house development some of which is contributed back upstream.

        NextStep started out as more or less the 4.3BSD userland hosted on the Mach 2.5 kernel instead of the monolithic traditional Unix style kernel the BSDs are built on, with a DisplayPostScript based UI (large parts licensed from Adobe) layered on top.

        After Apple bought Next (or Next bought Apple with Apple’s money, because Apple’s management at the time was staggeringly dysfunctional and almost all the management after the dust settled ended up being Next people), they made major changes. NextStep/OpenStep tended to perform not-that-well because of additional overhead passing things in and out of the microkernel, a problem many microkernel based Unix-likes had, so they updated to the OSFMK 7.3 Mach variant, the BSD code to versions from FreeBSD, then hybridized it by pushing some pieces that traditional Microkernels ran in user space into kernel space for performance reasons, resulting in the XNU kernel that essentially every modern Apple product runs.

        They also completely replaced the GUI layer with something custom and proprietary - the original plan for what became OS X was to use the Display Post Script system + a hosted classic environment, but 1. Many third party developers revolted against needing to make a ground-up new port of their software in a totally different environment and 2. the Adobe licensing costs were higher than the price of a normal PC, which was kind of OK for Next competing in the workstation market, but not OK for Apple selling consumer machines.

        Apple publishes the open-source parts including most of the kernel (lately an increasing portion of drivers and platform support stuff are distributed as object files not under the open license) on a regular basis, formerly under the name “Darwin” which could be built as a pretty typical BSD-like OS, but in a way that’s sufficiently community hostile to prevent anyone from really building successful derivative projects or contributing back to it. I think the most recent attempt was called “PureDarwin” and last I checked they’ve been stalled for about 2 years.

        The engineer in charge of kernel stuff for the NeXTStep/OpenStep/Rhapsody/OS X family from inception in the late 80s to 2006 was Avie Tevanian, one of the original developers of Mach.

        One who does use a lot of FreeBSD parts where it’s not entirely clear how much they contribute back is Sony. The CellOS and OrbisOS that the PS3 and PS4 used are close relatives of FreeBSD, and it’s possible they hid their contributions via contractors or consultants to not expose internal plans…or they just leeched, it’s not really clear.

  • lloram239@feddit.de
    22·
    11 months ago

    The kernel. That’s the part that is literally called “Linux”, i.e. the thing that has all the drivers for your hardware and regulates of multiple applications can run at once on the same machine.

    On top of that comes the GNU userland (a project started before Linux to build a free Unix), this gets a bit more fuzzy, this includes things like glibc, all the basic tools, shell, ls, tar, rm, gcc, … It’s fuzzy because it’s not strictly required to run Linux. Android for example runs the Linux kernel, but has a completely different userland than a typical Linux installation, much of which use the GNU tools. And than you have things like systemd, X11, KDE, Gnome, … that aren’t really GNU userland tools, but rather important to what most people would expect from a “Linux desktop”.

  • ultrasquid@lemm.ee
    232·
    11 months ago

    Linux is a combination of the Linux kernel (some really low level software that tells the OS how to communicate with your hardware, not something most users should worry about) and software from GNU (some Linux users call it GNU/Linux for this reason). This is then used as the base for distros, which are basically just that plus a package manager (how you install apps) and usually a desktop environment and default apps as well.

    Theoretically yes, you could create an operating system and name it Steve, but it wouldn’t be Linux unless it had the Linux kernel and GNU software.

    Edit: as others have pointed out, yes, you can technically have linux distros without GNU, but GNU-based Linux distros are by far the most popular option, so you’re highly unlikely to find a distro without GNU unless you’re hunting for one.

  • cygnus@lemmy.ca
    18·
    11 months ago

    The kernel. It’s why the BSD distros for example, while very similar to Linux, aren’t “Linux”.

  • joel_feila@lemmy.world
    18·
    11 months ago

    Linux kernel + everything else you need to make a function os + a mostly free and open approach to software = Linux

  • throwawayish@lemmy.ml
    14·
    11 months ago

    Linux is a platform that allows you the freedom to acquire the perfect OS for your needs; Linux Mint for your elderly mother, ChimeraOS for the Steam Deck of your son, Debian for your server, Ubuntu on your laptop you use for work and we can’t forget your fully customized Arch/Gentoo on your self-built PC that has been optimized to perfection for your workflow. Whatever problem/use-case/need you might have for your device, Linux offers solutions that are quite possibly the best there is; your mileage may vary depending on your knowledge and experience*.

    • Diplomjodler@feddit.de
      25·
      11 months ago

      That’s actually more true than most people are aware of. Torvalds has been controlling what goes into the Linux kernel for the past 30 years and he’s been mainly motivated by what is best for the user base as a whole rather than how to extract the most profit. This is what sets Linux apart from pretty much any other OS on the planet. He may be an ass personality wise, but we all owe this guy a massive debt.

  • PuppyOSAndCoffee@lemmy.ml
    7·
    11 months ago

    The most important part of Linux is the distribution that provides a boot loader and wraps the Linux kernel in tools & tool management.

    What makes Linux particularly special is you can create Steve from a derivative of the Linux kernel. So get cracking!