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GNU Plus Linux - Article
The GNU OS is a free UNIX like operating system, that is usable with the Linux kernel as a GNU/Linux system.
The GNU/Linux system is made convenient by the use of additional packages for convenience, such as a software package installer, software repository manager, initialization system, boot manager, service manager, services, graphical desktop, complex graphics library, etc.
The role of the GNU project was undermined when many Linux users chose to discredit the role of GNU in making an OS from the Linux kernel. GNU is always the OS, and Linux is merely the kernel. That is, the kernel is the HAL component, which can be plugged into the OS with minimal modifications.
People who say GNU needs Linux, but Linux doesn't need GNU
The GNU OS needs the Linux kernel to form a working OS distribution. Without a kernel, the GNU system would have no ability to interact with the hardware.
Similarly, the Linux kernel needs an OS to form a working OS distribution. Without an OS, the Linux kernel would be unable to do anything with the hardware.
The real problem people have then is with choosing what to call the operating system. Here we must know that while the contribution of each part of the system is important, we need to call it by a short name to reflect what it is. Then, Linux is a project that has chosen to separate itself from the Free Software campaign, choosing to be under the Open Source development philosophy. It has also chosen to not use the GNU GPLv3 license, which prevents manufacturers from utilizing open source firmware as part of a purposefully unmodifiable system. On the other hand, the GNU project pioneered the Free Software campaign, and stood up for our rights. For this reason, highlighting the name GNU would be the preference of the people who support the Free Software movement.
Thus choosing to call this system Linux alone would be the same as choosing to ignore the contributions of all other projects to focus on one of the projects, which is well at play with corporations that do not respect the freedoms of individuals, and itself bundles a lot of their non-free firmware. For this reason, choosing to stand against GNU's requests to mention its contribution is choosing to stand against the freedoms it fought for, and thus, I consider it an evil campaign.
People who say Alpine Linux is not GNU/Linux
The GNU OS was a unique type of UNIX like OS that was different from BSD UNIX, where the kernel and OS was part of a single project. Although BSD UNIX was in development, at that time, it was not under a free license, which is what prompted the development of GNU as a movement against non-free software.
By the time GNU was done with the out of kernel parts, Linus Torvalds had developed a kernel for i386 systems, because the only other free systems for i386, 386BSD and BSD/386 were dealing with a code licensing lawsuit filed by AT&T. For this reason, Linux developers worked with the GNU OS to create a fully functional operating system.
This specific combination of a set of userland utilities packages with the Linux kernel is what forms a GNU/Linux system, contrasted with a BSD system. Since although Alpine replaces GNU glibc and GNU coreutils, musl and Toybox are still an alternative userland, paired with the Linux kernel. For this reason, the nature of the system is GNU/Linux.
To say otherwise would be to say that incomplete
It is as correct as when we say
JCB to mean
Kleenex to mean
Fevicol to mean
Xerox to mean photocopier
Band-Aid to mean anything from bandage to first-aid kits.
That is, a genericized trademark.
For GNU/Linux, it is more like how it and BSD are UNIX like; and OS distributions containing a libc+userland in combination with the Linux kernel is a GNU/Linux like system.