In common usage, at least, it's an ecosystem of open source system software that sprang up around the Linux kernel. What exactly a kernel is might not matter to you.

The practical upshot is that you can run a computer without any code on it on it that isn't publicly accessible (from Apple, Google or Microsoft). There are other ways than Linux if you're committed, but none nearly as well developed.

This is good, because Linux is free of cost, free of restrictions on what you do with it, and experience has shown that open source code is much more maintainable and less likely to contain bugs and security vulnerabilities. (Basically, if any problems come up someone out there is likely to fix them, while closed-source software is rarely touched by anyone other than the original team)

Just for fun, and because someone has to post the meme:

I'd just like to interject for a moment.

What you're refering 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!

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

someone has to post the meme:

No, no one needs to post the embarrassing speech where stallman tries to ride linus' coat-tails.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 days ago

He's not totally wrong to be bugged about it. He basically is the father of modern free software, and by extension all the non-kernel components of a typical Linux machine, but the setup ended up named after another guy and an obsolete thing from Bell labs.