GNU

Linux is used to name the family of free and open source Operating systems based on the Linux kernel initially created by by Linus Torvalds.

Linux strictly only refers to the kernel.

Term GNU/Linux refers to the entire UNIX-like system; GNU/Linux variants like Gentoo consist of the Linux kernel and the GNU tools.

See Also

• For a full discussion, see Wikipedia:Gnu/Linux
• http://kernel.org