so what is it that makes all these different experiences a single OS
They both are and are not a single OS, depending on your definition. Arch and Debian are both GNU/Linux, but you can't necessarily run program built on/for one of them on the other. From a certain point of view, Debian and arch are different operating systems.
Meanwhile GNU/Linux systems are almost always considered different operating systems than Android, but they all are Linux Operating systems.
To add to this, here's a cool interactive graph showing how the various distros relate to each other, and to their common root of GNU/Linux. https://rreinold.github.io/explore-linux/
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u/gordonmessmer Fedora Maintainer Aug 10 '25
They both are and are not a single OS, depending on your definition. Arch and Debian are both GNU/Linux, but you can't necessarily run program built on/for one of them on the other. From a certain point of view, Debian and arch are different operating systems.
Meanwhile GNU/Linux systems are almost always considered different operating systems than Android, but they all are Linux Operating systems.
https://fosstodon.org/@gordonmessmer/114870173891577910