[ Thanks to LinuxDevices.com for this link.
]
“I think asking the question “what is Linux” is important
because of the issue of “forking” that concerns many of us. To get
a little scholastic here, we want to know the definition of Linux
to avoid ambiguity.”
“Consumers of Linux distributions want to know what they are
getting. Are they going to be dependent on the distribution they
choose? Are these dependencies in the kernel or just on
software outside of it? I think that most consumers will want to be
able to keep up with new versions of Linux. Will the
differences in the distribution they choose be kept
up-to-date?”
“I think what we want is a standard. With a standard vendors can
then be asked to clearly explain how they differ. The problem is, I
think most people would agree, is that it’s too early to adopt a
standard for a “Linux Distribution”. For the kernel, though, we do
have a clearly defined standard. The standard is what Linus
releases. Interestingly, that means there are literally hundreds of
standards since there have been hundreds (I did a little counting
on www.kernel.org) of versions, or minor versions, of the Linux
kernel.”