How is Android "not really a Linux
? It runs the Linux kernel. That means it's Linux. No, it's not a distribution of GNU/Linux, but it's a Linux kernel. It's really using Linux. It's as Linux as Ubuntu, as Ubuntu also runs on a Linux kernel.
Why would anybody have cared about Linux except as an academic exercise if not for GNU? If there had been another properly licensed kernel before Linux, we would all be using GNU bolted on top of that.
Linux has been great and Linus is a great steward, but Linux without GNU is a base for creating an OS, not an OS.
I really like GNU, but are you sure that it is GNU that has succeeded and not Linux?
Linux + GNU = small marketshare
Linux + Android = big marketshare
So maybe without GNU, Linux would have gotten some other userland quicker and taken off faster? I don't think it's entirely fair to credit Linux's success to GNU at this point.
