Everything has firmware, and that firmware creates some form of a kernel, depending on the complexity of the electronic device.
OSX, BSD, and Windows all package extra, GUI-related items with their kernels, and make their systems into complete "Operating Systems," or OS for short. Linux doesn't do that... Linus created a Linux kernel, and has updated it for a long time.
Now, when you speak of distros, such as Mint or Ubuntu, you're running into OS territory. They're not completely-packaged OS's, but they're more than a kernel... which is why we use the denomination "distribution," or distro for short.
So, to compare the firmware of a wireless mouse/keyboard to the fully-fledged OS of Windows is the idea which is "weirder to compare." To mix those, interchangeably, is wrong. Which is the purpose of my first comment.
[–] 2716057 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
Now it's YOU that seems to be confusing terms.
Everything has firmware, and that firmware creates some form of a kernel, depending on the complexity of the electronic device.
OSX, BSD, and Windows all package extra, GUI-related items with their kernels, and make their systems into complete "Operating Systems," or OS for short. Linux doesn't do that... Linus created a Linux kernel, and has updated it for a long time.
Now, when you speak of distros, such as Mint or Ubuntu, you're running into OS territory. They're not completely-packaged OS's, but they're more than a kernel... which is why we use the denomination "distribution," or distro for short.
So, to compare the firmware of a wireless mouse/keyboard to the fully-fledged OS of Windows is the idea which is "weirder to compare." To mix those, interchangeably, is wrong. Which is the purpose of my first comment.