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by codetrotter 1958 days ago
Ubuntu the operating system takes its name from the concept that you talk about here.

That is also why the logo of Ubuntu the operating system is three people holding hands, which kind of blew my mind when I first heard about it. Prior to that I thought the logo was just some lines and circles in a pretty pattern with no specific meaning.

2 comments

I believe some of Ubuntu's early marketing materials (from the days of Warty Warthog) actually depicted 3 people holding hands. See link:

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/geekfeminism/images/9/94/S...

Ubuntu is the distribution. GNU is the operating system. Linux is the kernel.
"GNU is the operating system" only makes sense when speaking about GNU Hurd or Linux-libre. The kernel is part of the OS, so in the case of ubuntu GNU can't be the operating system. But if Linux is the kernel, and GNU is part of the operating system because the OS is more than the kernel, then why is the OS GNU/Linux and not Systemd/GNU/Linux? And on Ubuntu you install most stuff with apt instead of using gcc, and use most software with X.org instead of bash, so the OS is really apt/X.org/systemd/GNU/Linux. Of course that name quickly becomes silly, it's much more practical to just call the OS Ubuntu (as that expresses a specific package selection that includes GNU, linux, and a large number of equally indispensable parts, as well as their update cadence and methodology)
Let's not forget that more than 90% of packages in Ubuntu are taken from Debian without any significant modification.
A GNU/Linux distro can be referred to as an operating system. Not sure if you are memeing or not, but in conversation going into specifics about the GNU/Linux, or GNU plus Linux as you might like to call it, distinction, is not relevant here.

And in fact, I would say that saying that “GNU is the operating system” is even incorrect. GNU plus Linux is the operating system. Neither part by itself is a complete operating system.

So, the distro is the operating system.

Ubuntu is the operating system.