No, I meant that android is based on Linux core. The other thing is that right now it is a separate tree of software with common ancestor. But 15 years ago that was more like a specialized Linux distro for smartphones. And yes, I have written software for the Android. I am perfectly aware of the changes done in restrictions and safety measures from like Android ver. 7 to the current version. If you need to write a game that just runs inside its own sandbox, there are no problems. But once you need to access, for example, user’s storage like music - that is a nightmare. In older days you could simply specify in your manifest permission to read external storage data and that is all. You could read any non-protected from access files in the whole OS and even on external devices. Now to even create a simple music player you need to rely on build-in media registry that despite providing all basic necessary info needed also greatly limits you in actions. And, of course, I have noticed how much Google has monopolised the OS during the past decade. So, basically, you are right that Android behaves more like IOS now and cannot be considered a proper Linux distribution. The other thing is that we still need these new Smartphone Linux distributions to have compatibility with most Android apps in order to be popular for masses and not only for tech enthusiasts. Why bother creating whole new ecosystem if we can simply create a clone of existing one but without all the mega-Corp garbage build in it?