Re: here is a paragraph from the microsoft 2004 annual report

On Tuesday 26 October 2004 12:42 pm, D. Joe wrote:

... they screw-up [by] calling Linux an "operating system" rather than a kernel.

Linux is more than an Operating System or a Kernel. It's a philosophy and for some people a lifestyle, maybe even a religion.

Seriously, when most people say "Linux" they mean the GNU Linux Suite with a FOSS GUI, desktop, and a load of useful software - in short, they mean a whole distro, not a kernel.

Also, I believe I've seen statistics that paid professional programmers, while only about 10% of the people actively working on Linux have contributed close to 90% of the adopted code in the past year. (I know that's imprecise, it's in a LJ or LM article a few issues back.)