no gnu

I don't really disagree with your point. I do find the GNU/Linux naming thing somewhat irritating - but given GNU and Linux basically supply the most fundamental stuff most Linux distros are based on, I can understand the point the FSF are making.

I just thought I'd note that if we're judging it in terms of the effect on user experience, whilst for many users the GNU software has more influence on the "Linux-like" experience it is also the case that this software has very little influence on visible behaviour for many others.

For instance, many users of KDE-based Linux distros would probably not notice if you replaced all the GNU parts with BSD stuff - if you swapped some office worker's Mandriva install for PC-BSD, would they notice?

Again, I'm not really disagreeing with you - I think GNU software is very important to the functionality and behaviour of most Linux installs. But I think the low-level co-ordinating roles the GNU software takes (compiling, linking, scripting, libraries) is the main reason for its importance, not its user-visible characteristics.