when you heve the kernel of linux, what can you do with it? is this the main base of an os? is this all the source of linux? SigwarthSoft sigwarthsoft@hotmail.com icq#: 62538030 Maastricht, Netherlands Stefan Sigwarth

For all OS''s not just linux (and a simplification):
When you boot, you start with the boot loader. The loader loads the kernel. The kernel sets up CPU, initializes some base hardware and mounts a file system. The kernel is then in memory and stays there. It''s object code in memory will provide the implementation of all low-level system calls. The kernel then looks on the file system and loads an intial execution script. This script in general loads the shell. The shell itself supplies a good deal of functionality normally associated with the OS.

So for a minimum funcitoning OS you need: a bootloader, a kernel, a shell, a harddrive primed with the file system.

Now on to your question.
The linux source is only the kernel.
Distributions will supply a bootloader and a shell, as well as a method to format that hard drive properly.

If you really want to learn more about making an OS, I would really recommend going to an ACM webpage and looking for a group called SigOS or something similar. Or at least posting in the lounge forum instead.