Yes, Android uses the Linux kernel. Congratulations, you’ve identified the lowest common denominator. That does not mean you’re “using Linux” in any meaningful sense of the word.
When people talk about using Linux, they’re talking about an actual Linux environment, full control, GNU userland, desktop distributions, package management, the whole ecosystem. Not a locked-down mobile OS where everything is sandboxed behind an app store and you interact with it through a touchscreen UI.
By your logic, using Android makes you a Linux power user, which is obviously absurd.
You’re technically correct in the most superficial way possible, but it completely misses the point I was making.
I don’t think you actually read what I wrote before responding.
What does the kernel have to do with the point I’m making about Linux kernel, Linux, or Android?
Yes, Android uses the Linux kernel. That’s not the argument. The kernel by itself is not the operating system people are referring to when they say they “use Linux.”
Android is not a traditional Linux system, and more importantly, it is not some bastion of open-source purity. It is developed and controlled by Google, with most real-world functionality tied to its proprietary ecosystem.
So bringing up the kernel doesn’t actually address what I said.
You have it backwards. Linux is the kernel. That’s it. The distribution isn’t Linux. A distro includes the Linux kernel as well as extra user land applications. Anything that uses the Linux kernel is Linux. Android uses the Linux kernel, that makes it Linux. Yes, it’s a restricted and locked down version of Linux, but it’s still Linux.
To use a simple analogy, the Linux kernel is like the engine of a car. A Linux distro is everything else around that engine. You can take the same engine and place it into many different shells. While the engine remains the same, the surrounding components can vary wildly.
That’s why there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different Linux distros.
A company like Google can take the Linux kernel and build an operating system like Android around it, resulting in the fragmented mess it is today.
However, saying that Android is Linux is an oversimplification. It is more accurate to say that Android is built on the Linux kernel, not that it is Linux in the same sense as a traditional GNU/Linux distribution.
The people that literally created Linux disagree with you. They all say that Linux is the kernel.
You can stop trying to explain your point of view. I understand exactly what you’re saying, it’s just incorrect. No amount of explaining is going to change that
Android is Linux
Oh please, that’s such a lazy “gotcha.”
Yes, Android uses the Linux kernel. Congratulations, you’ve identified the lowest common denominator. That does not mean you’re “using Linux” in any meaningful sense of the word.
When people talk about using Linux, they’re talking about an actual Linux environment, full control, GNU userland, desktop distributions, package management, the whole ecosystem. Not a locked-down mobile OS where everything is sandboxed behind an app store and you interact with it through a touchscreen UI.
By your logic, using Android makes you a Linux power user, which is obviously absurd.
You’re technically correct in the most superficial way possible, but it completely misses the point I was making.
Linux is the kernel
I don’t think you actually read what I wrote before responding. What does the kernel have to do with the point I’m making about Linux kernel, Linux, or Android?
Yes, Android uses the Linux kernel. That’s not the argument. The kernel by itself is not the operating system people are referring to when they say they “use Linux.”
Android is not a traditional Linux system, and more importantly, it is not some bastion of open-source purity. It is developed and controlled by Google, with most real-world functionality tied to its proprietary ecosystem.
So bringing up the kernel doesn’t actually address what I said.
You have it backwards. Linux is the kernel. That’s it. The distribution isn’t Linux. A distro includes the Linux kernel as well as extra user land applications. Anything that uses the Linux kernel is Linux. Android uses the Linux kernel, that makes it Linux. Yes, it’s a restricted and locked down version of Linux, but it’s still Linux.
No.
I will try and explain.
To use a simple analogy, the Linux kernel is like the engine of a car. A Linux distro is everything else around that engine. You can take the same engine and place it into many different shells. While the engine remains the same, the surrounding components can vary wildly.
That’s why there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different Linux distros.
A company like Google can take the Linux kernel and build an operating system like Android around it, resulting in the fragmented mess it is today.
However, saying that Android is Linux is an oversimplification. It is more accurate to say that Android is built on the Linux kernel, not that it is Linux in the same sense as a traditional GNU/Linux distribution.
The people that literally created Linux disagree with you. They all say that Linux is the kernel.
You can stop trying to explain your point of view. I understand exactly what you’re saying, it’s just incorrect. No amount of explaining is going to change that
You sound like a flat-earther insisting you know the truth when the evidence clearly contradicts you.
I don’t need to prove anything to you, I can rely on verifiable facts.
The Linux kernel used in Android has been significantly modified to meet Google’s requirements.
Android does not behave or function like a conventional Linux distribution.
Android is fundamentally different from other operating systems, aside from portions of the kernel that remain unchanged.
Android is “Linux” only at the kernel level, which is insufficient to classify it as Linux in any meaningful, user-facing sense.
What a subset of developers choose to call Linux is irrelevant here, this is a straightforward equivocation fallacy.