Linux implies a GNU userland to most people which Android does not have.

saagarjha · on Nov 22, 2020

Alpine Linux is unequivocally a Linux despite not having much to do with GNU in userland.

zepto · on Nov 22, 2020

It has a work-alike of the gnu userland.

damnyou · on Nov 22, 2020

Well, that's precisely what Stallman was trying to address, wasn't he? Trying to separate out the Linux kernel from the GNU userland.

zepto · on Nov 23, 2020

Yes, but he had failed before he even started trying to get people to say GNU/Linux instead of Linux.

That’s my point - when people say Linux they generally mean GNU/Linux not Android.

Equally, people are generally not talking about only the kernel, when they say Linux. Usually when someone is talking about only the kernel they say ‘the Linux kernel’.

GNU/Linux usually only gets used by the FSF or during discussions of this kind.

“Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.” [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux