Welcome
@Nico and
@AlienGod to the forums!
Yes, the kernel is software, but what would you expect from it if it were the
only software to load? A kernel is the core of an operating system, but it needs applications or else it has no purpose.
It's purpose is to act as an
interface between applications and hardware. This is why there are so many device drivers that are built into the kernel.
This Wikipedia page describes a generic operating system kernel that explains it far better.
Linux has come to be called an "operating system" as if it were the complete thing, but it really isn't, even though it is a critical part. If you dig into the history (and read up on Richard Stallman) you find that early on the operating system was called "GNU/Linux" (and it is still called that by many). The early
GNU Utilities were the first packages of tools (applications) that were joined with the Linux kernel to create a complete operating system... text utilities, shell utilities, and file utilities. These tools are still available today in all Linux distributions (as far as I know).... they are many of the commands you find in the terminal.
GNU has also pursued developing another kernel, called Hurd (so, "GNU/Hurd") but it is developing only very slowly, no doubt partly due to the huge popularity of the Linux kernel.
