Z:gnu-www-ja-gnu-linux-faq--0bc486-Most of the time when people s/en

Most of the time when people speak of the &ldquo;Linux operating system&rdquo; they are using &ldquo;operating system&rdquo; in the same sense we use: they mean the whole collection of programs. If that's what you are referring to, please call it &ldquo;GNU/Linux&rdquo;. If you mean just the kernel, then &ldquo;Linux&rdquo; is the right name for it, but please say &ldquo;kernel&rdquo; also to avoid ambiguity about which body of software you mean.