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Comment by croes

2 years ago

Android is based on a modified Linux kernel

It's also based on modified JVM. It still doesn't make Dalvik my operating system.

Android OS can best be described as a ball of mud that evolved soup of (semi?-)proprietary firmware.

  • It was never JVM. Converting to dex happens on developer side, and that severs anything JVM-like.

    • Nitpick that doesn't affect my argument. Argument is based on access to underlying hardware not it being JVM.

      Since edit window has passed:

      Just because it's based on JVM compatible VM, doesn't make ART/Dalvik my Operating system either.

      4 replies →

There is not much of a point to pointing that out considering popular server Linux OSs like Debian and RHEL also use a modified Linux kernel

  • But you would count Debian and RHEL as a Linux, so is Android.

    • Debian and RHEL have classic GNU userland (thus, GNU/Linux), Android does not. With normal Linux, it has only common kernel (even though heavily modified) and maybe musl (as an alternative libc).