For me it's mix of Linux kernel and a subset of common FOSS software[0] providing the boot and low-level operations, while the middleware is provided by AOSP with Dalvik/ART and the top, the whole user experience with GUI, apps and whatever. The middle and the top has absolutely nothing common with Linux.
To give you and idea - if you swap the engine in your Ford to Cummins, would you tell everyone what you are driving Cummins? No, you would tell what you are still driving Ford. The same applies to Android, if you swap the Linux kernel to something else, eg to OpenBSD kernel, would you tell what your smartphone is now running on OpenBSD? No, it's still Android, though with OpenBSD kernel.
[0] if you have Linux kernel then it doesn't makes sense to write tooling and userspace from scratch. Like you can, but.. why?
So, it IS a Linux distribution with other userspace that's not made by GNU. What some people call non-GNU/Linux.
Distributions like Alpine for example would also be it.
>The same applies to Android, if you swap the Linux kernel to something else, eg to OpenBSD kernel, would you tell what your smartphone is now running on OpenBSD? No, it's still Android, though with OpenBSD kernel.
Nobody says that it wouldn't, and it also would be true for other Linux distributions. Remember Debian GNU/kFreeBSD?[0]
Now, you could argue that someone who's using the terminal in Debian GNU/kFreeBSD would notice that it's not in fact Linux, but that's a matter of expertise (not every Linux user relies on the terminal), and that's also true for Android.
> So, it IS a Linux distribution with other userspace that's not made by GNU
So, it IS a Cummins distr^W car with other car parts that's not made by Cummins? Despite the big blue "Ford" everywhere on the car and in the documentation?
Another litmus test I often amused by is how when where is a report of a bazillion of Windows infections (especially those when a user should explicitly run the payload, not just a drive-by) then it's Windows problem, but when there is a report of bazillion of infected Android phones and tablets then of course it's not Linux and therefore it shouldn't be chalked up in any "Amount of infected computers per OS" graphs, lol.
> So, it IS a Linux distribution
Humans tends to omit unnecessary repetition and overall tends to shorten things when it's fits their current situation.
But that doesn't make "an operating system distribution based on Linux kernel with system instrumentation and userspace common to other popular operating systems based on Linux kernel" equal to "Linux distribution" or "Linux".
>Another litmus test I often amused by is how when where is a report of a bazillion of Windows infections (especially those when a user should explicitly run the payload, not just a drive-by) then it's Windows problem, but when there is a report of bazillion of infected Android phones and tablets then of course it's not Linux and therefore it shouldn't be chalked up in any "Amount of infected computers per OS" graphs, lol.
Normally, when it comes to CVEs you tend to see it targeted to the affected piece. E.g.: CVE-2022-38533 affecting GNU binutils and CVE-2023-25139 affecting sprintf() in glibc. Those two things are core parts of most Linux distributions, yet they are still their own distinct thing.
The fact that many times the accused piece of software is Android (like in CVE-2022-20472 or CVE-2023-21079) is just a testament of how big of a monolithic most of the Android userspace is, without ceasing to be a Linux disribution.
>But that doesn't make "an operating system distribution based on Linux kernel with system instrumentation and userspace common to other popular operating systems based on Linux kernel" equal to "Linux distribution" or "Linux".
Well, that's precisely one of the arguments[0] used in favor of naming some Linux distributions as GNU/Linux:
>Since a long name such as GNU/X11/Apache/Linux/TeX/Perl/Python/FreeCiv becomes absurd, at some point you will have to set a threshold and omit the names of the many other secondary contributions. There is no one obvious right place to set the threshold, so wherever you set it, we won't argue against it.
I'm perfectly aware of the whole GNU/Linux debacle, thanks.
Counter question, is firmware on some cheap-ass $10 router is a Linux distribution? Is this cheap-ass $10 router IS Linux?
> Those two things are core parts of most Linux distributions, yet they are still their own distinct thing
Well, Explorer is the core part of the most of Windows SKUs, yet when the Explorer is at fault - it's Windows fault and goes in the stats, while millions of infected Android phones suddenly doesn't because it's not Linux, it's Android (emphasis mine). Kindergarten level of logic, yet used by grown-ass men.
>Counter question, is firmware on some cheap-ass $10 router is a Linux distribution? Is this cheap-ass $10 router IS Linux?
Well, I think it is. Although they tend to refer to them as Linux-powered, which is still the same but with a hyphen
>Well, Explorer is the core part of the most of Windows SKUs, yet when the Explorer is at fault - it's Windows fault and goes in the stats, while millions of infected Android phones suddenly doesn't because it's not Linux, it's Android (emphasis mine). Kindergarten level of logic, yet used by grown-ass men.
Yeah, probably those things come mostly from how widely present are both Windows and Android on people's lives. It's a media preference since it wont't get you many clicks to say that there was an error on Explorer :P
Still, Android is a Linux distribution until they find a new kernel
For me it's mix of Linux kernel and a subset of common FOSS software[0] providing the boot and low-level operations, while the middleware is provided by AOSP with Dalvik/ART and the top, the whole user experience with GUI, apps and whatever. The middle and the top has absolutely nothing common with Linux.
To give you and idea - if you swap the engine in your Ford to Cummins, would you tell everyone what you are driving Cummins? No, you would tell what you are still driving Ford. The same applies to Android, if you swap the Linux kernel to something else, eg to OpenBSD kernel, would you tell what your smartphone is now running on OpenBSD? No, it's still Android, though with OpenBSD kernel.
[0] if you have Linux kernel then it doesn't makes sense to write tooling and userspace from scratch. Like you can, but.. why?