linux is a kernel. freebsd can use the same shells (your layer 2) to
interact, and the same application/dev programs (your layer 3) to
provide services, although you have to recompile. just take a look at
Debian.
"In any case, the Debian group plans to release a Debian GNU/Hurd
distribution that will consist of all of the packages of their Linux
distribution, except using the Hurd as the underlying OS."
(http://www.ddj.com/articles/2000/0012/0012a/0012a.htm)
what is different? basically the linux kernel was replaced by the Hurd
suite of daemons.
note that i didnt say linux is not an OS. but you dont hear "the linux
shell", or "the linux command line interface", or "the linux gui". bash
and X Windows are separate from linux, and the other kernels, or
operating systems use them too. Linus provided a kernel. the rest were
GNU utilities and user-contributed programs.
Silberschatz emphasizes the difference.
"It is useful to make the distinction between the Linux kernel and a
Linux system: The Linux kernel is an entirely original piece of software
developed from scratch by the Linux community; the Linux system, as we
know today, includes a multitude of components, some written from
scratch, others borrowed from other development projects or created in
collaboration with other teams."
He goes on to say that while the linux system provides a standard
environment for apps and user programming, it doesnt enforce any
standard means of managing the available functionality as a whole. He
defines a Linux distribution to include all standard components of the
Linux system, plus a set of admin tools to simplify the installation and
upgrading of Linux, and to manage the installation and deinstallation of
packages on the system.
*whew* what a mouthful. =)
-v
Rowel Atienza wrote:
> linux is not a kernel. linux is an OS. An OS is composed of
>layers. The lowest layer is the kernel. It interacts directly with the
>hardware. The second layer is the shell (eg bash, csh, tcsh, etc). The
>shell acts as the middle man between the user and the kernel. Lastly, we
>have the application/development programs (eg perl, gcc, java, etc. )
>
>-rowel
>
>>linux is a kernel
>>redhat, debian, mandrake, slackware, suse etc are open-source Unix OS
>>variants based on the linux kernel
>>freebsd is an open-source Unix OS variant too but not using linux kernel
>>
>>therefore freebsd is not linux.
>>
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