on Mon, 7 Jan 2002 10:05:26 +0800, Federico Sevilla III wrote:
>>On Mon, 7 Jan 2002 at 00:58, Andy Sy wrote: >><...snip...> >> Moreover, the most important bash shell features like command line >> completion as well as the powerful GNU tools are now almost all >> available freely for Win32, greatly reducing Linux's lead in this area. > >I think you're messing things up here. The GNU tools that work on Linux >work on so many other platforms. Don't talk about them. And I don't think >talking about KDE or Mozilla is valid, either. They are not exclusive to >Linux, are they? If you truly want to compare Linux and Windows validly, >talk about CORE FEATURES of the OPERATING SYSTEM. Not GNU tools that are >available everywhere and have been before Linux came around. This is like the Microsoft thinking that the browser is part of an operating system. Well, I won't argue with that. As defined, an operating system is a software interface to the underlying hardware. How would one define "the interface" is already a mush for brains exercise. Personally, I'd say that the operating system is strictly the kernel, for no "OS" would exist without one. But since a kernel is pretty damned useless by itself, the popular connotation for an OS is the kernel plus the software to do some "basic OS functions" (w/c is dependent on the nature and intended functionality the OS is to do), then some more software to run on that OS. This is why RMS calls the Linux OS the GNU/Linux operating system - the Linux kernel together with the GNU tools w/c do "the basic OS functions" like filesystem manipulation, etc. Then some more software... Microsoft, on the other hand defines what an OS is otherwise... Paolo Falcone __________________________________ www.edsamail.com _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
