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In various docker posts there seems to differentiate between an OS and the kernel. I always thought these are interchangeable terms.
Is there a difference between a host OS an application is running and the kernel?

Jim
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    I'd say that the OS includes more than just the kernel. – mbj Jan 21 '19 at 15:40
  • For some cases (micro-kernels), the kernel can be a tiny little piece (e.g. less than 64 KiB) that provides little more than low level task switching code. An OS can include many GiB of stuff that a kernel doesn't (GUI, drivers, file system code, documentation, utilities, sound effects, libraries, ...). – Brendan Jan 21 '19 at 16:45
  • The Kernel is a subset of the OS. The various utilities that are necessary to run a system are consider part of the operating system. The bounds of what constitutes just the operating system outside the kernel is vague. Sadly, this was marked as a duplicate without giving a link to a previous answer. – user3344003 Jan 21 '19 at 23:43

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Strictly speaking, kernel is the centre most part of the OS. Apart from kernel many software utilities are present there to make a complete OS.

But when speaking in loose terms they can be interchanged.

Syed Waris
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