Current Gentoo user

[Sdävtaker]

Chad Perrin escribió:
> On Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 08:52:18AM +0000, Paul Waring wrote:
>> Gentoo isn't really an operating system, it's a Linux distribution - the
>> only way in which it differs from other distributions (say Debian) is in
>> its package management.
> 
> I've been running into the notion that Linux distributions aren't
> operating systems lately -- two or three times now.  I find this
> immensely confusing.  The way things are going, it seems that ultimately
> the term "operating system" will never be allowed to apply to anything
> that has anything at all to do with the Linux kernel, period.
> 
>   1. The kernel isn't an OS (I happen to agree with this one).  It's just
>   a kernel, and it takes more than a kernel to make an OS.
> 
>   2. The distro isn't an OS (I happen to disagree with this one).  It's
>   just a distribution, which, um, differs from an OS in that it, um,
>   isn't an OS.
> 
>   3. What the heck *is* an OS?
> 

If you want a fast read: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system#Definition_of_an_Operating_System_.28OS.29
But there is a lot more info in Tanenbaum books, Staling books, or 
Silverschatz books, the three of them named "operating systems".
Rule of the thumb... If you find  an easy application who runs in one 
"Distribution" and it doesnt run in another one, then you can be pretty 
sure those are not the same OS. =)