1 what is the fundamental difference between android and linux ?

2 If android is a fork of linux is it `okay' to be so called ?

3 Now that the codes have merged can it be agreed to call it android rather than Linux since we all call GNU/Linux distros only as linux?

1. Android is a neutered limited form of gnu/linux.
2. Ask google.
3. Codes have not merged, but diverged. I'm not going to worry about what you call things but you want to be understood when you speak/write so it's best not to reinvent names.

It is not about me but about those people who does not give enough credit to GNU ....

Android apps are littered with GPL licenses notices I find. Especially Googles own ones where applicable.

From what I understand that kernel is essentially Linux. But when you compare it to a desktop/server distro it is very different. Namely the user-land is not nearly as open to the user. This might be different for those that have rooted their phones/tablets, but for the everyday user it's locked down. There is also a lot (from what I've read) proprietary software that makes up the user-land, like the Java sandbox as one example.

Now I'm not and Android expert, this is based on what I've read and understand.

If you really want to understand Android, the best would be (if available) download the x86 version and play with it.

-Sparkfist

Android can be thought of as an application-specific implementation of Linux. Where "application" in this case means "being a phone" or "being a tablet." And so on. The core operating-system and libraries are open source (much as the core of iOS and OSX are still Darwin), but the deployment is (by design) more restrictive and somewhat proprietary.

It is, if you will, intended to be a "hardened" system, as well as one that you can actually use, in your pocket or in your hand as an appliance, without knowing or caring a single thing about how it works. (Despite its warts, it's a pretty darned good demonstration of just such a pragmatic deployment.)

By looking at the codes it seems only how the processes are handled and various hooks here and there differ . The day GNU tools are ported to handle android kernel calls then calling it GNU/Android or just Android.

Also Ubuntu for Android lets Android and Ubuntu share the same Linux kernel, so they can run at the same time . when using the phone it is an Android but connecting on a TV it becomes Ubuntu. Its leading to more confusion.


Many people I meet on the road (a direct translation of MU creole into english) , always think of me to a nerd or geek because I use Linux and [F|O]***BSD but nowadays I bull into them for using Linux everyday(android, Bada, Meego [yeah Nokia N9 has been very much publicized in here ]) . And it adds more into the confusion

Well, if there are any "GNU trolls" out there (and I know that there are ...) the good news is that I'm not one. The Android kernels (and for that matter, iOS) were built very specifically to run well on portable devices. (In the case of Android, there was also the complication that the exact type of device that would be being used was somewhat unknown, whereas Apple always knows exactly what hardware its goodies will run on.) It wasn't simply a case of grabbing a Linux distro (or OS/X) and squishing it onto a cell-phone. But that was where both projects began, and it was a great place to start.

GNU trolls does exist I thought them to be real in my dreams only.