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Can the Linux kernel host non-GNU userlands?



This is really about Linux rather than Debian Linux, so please direct me
to a better forum if you know one.

Much is made (by some people) of the fact that GNU/Linux is the Linux
kernel plus the GNU userland. There are projects to run GNU on different
kernels, but what about hosting non-GNU userlands on the Linux kernel?
Aside from GNU, I know of three open *nix userlands -- FreeBSD, the
Heirloom Project, and the AT&T AST collection (UWIN). If you loosen your
standards, there is also Plan 9.

After the emergence of Debian/kFreeBSD, some people have asked about a
FreeBSD/kLinux, but the answers are that it's practically impossible.
Why? I can understand that the GNU tools depend on features of gcc and
the Linux kernel. Does Linux depend on special features of the GNU
userland?

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