The following is Victor Yodaiken's answer to the question, “What is Linux?” . . .

> Some say… “Linux is whatever Linus says it is.”

Linux is the kernel and, within that definition, Linux is whatever Linus Torvalds and the core kernel developers say it is. For what it is worth, in the technical literature, “kernel” and “operating system” are used interchangeably and have been for 40 years.

> Is uClinux, an MMU-less version based on linux kernel v2.0, truly Linux?

Sort of. uClinux is no longer tracking Linux kernel so it is less and less part of Linux.

> If a proprietary RTOS like LynxOS or QNX attains plug-and-play binary
> (API/ABI) compatibility with Linux apps, is it Linux? Or, would you
> call that “Linux compatible”? Or, “Linux-like”?

Those are absolutely not “Linux” or even “Linux like”. They may become “Linux API compatible” but they lack both the development strength and the open source that make Linux what it is.

 
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