gnu
linux
penguin
i'd just like to interject for a moment. what you're referring to as linux
is in fact
gnu/linux
or as i've recently taken to calling it
gnu plus linux. linux is not an operating system unto itself
but rather another free component of a fully functioning gnu system made useful by the gnu corelibs
shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full os as defined by posix. many computer users run a modified version of the gnu system every day
without realizing it. through a peculiar turn of events
the version of gnu which is widely used today is often called "linux"
and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the gnu system
developed by the gnu project. there really is a linux
and these people are using it
but it is just a part of the system they use. linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. the kernel is an essential part of an operating system
but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. linux is normally used in combination with the gnu operating system: the whole system is basically gnu with linux added
or gnu/linux. all the so-called "linux" distributions are really distributions of gnu/linux.