Which Operating System do you use?

Question

Its strange, I only now three types of OSs.

Like Linux, Mac (Apple), and Windows.

Does anyone have an OS outside of the three stated above?

I searched online and found some sort of cloud computing OS

article:

https://www.quora.com/What-companies-are-actively-developing-operating-and-embedded-systems-apart-from-Windows-Mac-OS-and-Linux

Answer 1

Linux is not an OS, it's a kernel (a la NT x.x). Android is an OS and very very different to GNU/Linux.
I usually say "Lignux" to refer to GNU/Linux. Of course it's easier to be understood when saying "Linux", lol, so even I do.

To answer the question:
1. Debian 8
2. Debian 8 (to be upgraded to 9) & others for learning/experiments.
3. Android

1 is >15 years old and salvaged. 2 is an i3 Broadwell. 3 is a crappy Huawei Y221.

And yes, Windows machines are forbidden in my house. Linux OS user for over 5 years.

Answer 2

@David Schmidt: Looks like @Manual beat me to it. But yeah, in very esoteric terms, a kernel is sorta like a brain without a consciousness and the stuff we add (ex: userland) is the consciousness that becomes the OS eventually. In many ways it's hard to draw a perfect line on what makes an OS. Some would call Ubuntu and Mint their own OSes, others would say adding and subtracting a few bits of software is insufficient. Of course the longer standing argument is where the line gets drawn. Ubuntu is derived from Debian, also by adding some parts here and there but it's very different (su vs sudo), the fact that there's a project to use FreeBSD's kernel in a Debian userland, and so forth. So Lignux as a whole settled on "flavors" and "distros". Moving up a level, the kernel interacts with the hardware and now we have the contention: the GNU utils had no kernel, Linus's kernel had no userland and a relationship formed. The GNU people (mostly Stallman) were upset that people were calling the product "Linux" when Linux was the interface between the hardware and the GNU software, but not the full OS (which is a tough term to define). So...
HW<->kernel<->GNU (and others)
Began what is now modern Lignux. Many components, like the X server, aren't even Linux-specific. X runs on BSD systems too. And the inverse is true, with the BSD version of nc available in most distribution repos. I know I've digressed but I felt some history was important as Android is Linux kernel based, as are many routers/electronics (and many are BSD based).

Well I've hopefully answered the question without too much extra info. I tend to be verbose (coulda answered that in 1 sentence) and digress.

Answer 3

@Manual:
Different kernels can be run on the same system so long as they're compatible (ex some software may need changing). The kernel version doesn't define the OS. Debian 8 runs on 3.x and Debian 9 is supposedly on 4.x. Debian has 3 branches (+ an experimental version). Stable stays on the same kernel ver and software most of its life. It only pushes security updates and other critical updates. Testing runs on continuous updates, as does Unstable.
Ubuntu usually takes packages from Debian Unstable (the software is not unstable, see Debian book). But most independent distros have their own kernel in terms of building from source. Now a plain generic, or "vanilla", kernel may work with many distros to replace theirs, but sometimes a distro ships with software dependent on code changes in the kernel, like microsystems. A router likely uses a vanilla or stripped down kernel, a Desktop may have many editions to the kernel. Most desktop Linux's will let you download the kernel source and compile it yourself. In fact at boot you can specify a kernel image to use if you have more than 1. So kernel version plays a part. All kernels come from one vanilla release. Android has probably included loads of code and removed just as much. This is all automated during compilation of course.
The OS in many cases handles a different kernel well if you know all the ins & outs of your base system. There's a special low-latency kernel for Ubuntu Studio so musicians get better audio for example. Linux and its ecosystem is vast.
I still cannot define an OS. It's more an idea and philosophy and everything else are pieces put together to fit that idea and philosophy.

Answer 4

Linux is a broad term. It's an open source operating system which means that anyone can contribute and make variants. The most popular Linux OS is Ubuntu, but there are over 20 more from different developers and for different purposes.

For example I believe Arch Linux is for very clean and streamlined performance without a lotta bloat other operating systems have. And I believe Red Hat is for networking. But these are far from the only ones

I use Windows 10 on PC and Android 6.0.1 on mobile

Answer 5

My phone is using the Android OS.

Answer 6

I googled it.

And found this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(operating_system)

Answer 7

Ah! I wasn't aware @Manual was talking to me. Thanks for the link! And thanks Unicorn-Jamie for that very in depth reply. I'm not going to delete my comments as I feel this whole bunny trail is very informational and will probably help more noobs like me

Answer 8

And a wiki article

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_operating_systems

Answer 9

learn something new every day. and what exactly is a kernal? @Jamie

(I'll delete this comment after you answer to avoid going off topic on this thread)

Answer 10

Forever Mac

Answer 11

@Jamie

Thank you, again for the explanation!

Answer 12

Kaali Linux! ✋

Answer 13

@Jamie - >the pony

That is a lot to take in.

Are Linus distros OSes the same or similar OS with different kernels?