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Comment by Rhedox | Hacker News Reader

Android is not really a Linux distro in the usual sense. It only ships the kernel and none of the GNU userspace components that a typical Linux distro has.

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Still sounds like a distribution of Linux , aka it’s running Linux.

That's not what people mean when they say "Linux distro".

Ah ok, what is the definition then ?

I thought it would be a Linux kernel bundled with software and distributed in a format that's easy for people to use?

So... it's Linux but not GNU/Linux?

BWM naturally owns the whole stack, however in what app developers are concerned, nothing Linux related is part of stable API surface of the NDK.

Trying to use them might get an app killed.

Of course on what concerns BMW/Android it is a different matter.

Linux kernel, a very minimal userland, the Android VM on top of that.

Android is arguably on a path to becoming a dominant if not the dominant embedded system for consumer devices. I don't say this with any joy whatsoever.

Android is dying. Chine companies have made their own OS to replace it. Google is bringing Fuchsia to replace Linux kernel to get total dominance over stack. List goes on.

I'd be happy to see Android die.

I'm not sure Fuchsia or a Chinese alternative is what I'd prefer in its place.

If this[1] is what "dying" looks like, then it's not so bad.

Android still accounts for over 72% mobile OS market share, with iOS far behind in second place at a mere 27%, and everything else is trivially insignificant.

[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/worldwide/...

Dying means that its dominance is reducing regardless of the current marketshare. That chart actually shows it.

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