Really, no. It is true that linux is only a kernel, and a complete operating system consists of all the software built around that kernel. Although GNU, supported by the Free Software Foundation, is a vast collection of free software and libraries which are typically incorporated into the Operating Systems known as "Linux Distributions," not all of these "Distros" are actually unmodified GNU/Linux. The lists only the following distributions as true GNU/Linux: Dragora, Dyne;bolic, Guix, Hyperbola, Parabola, PureOS, Trisquel, Utulo, libreCMC and ProteanOS. While other linux-based distributions may utilize GNU sottware and libraries, they are not "free" enough to be considered true GNU/Linux. So there. (and then there is also Android which is based on linux as well)
A great deal of the software that one uses on Linux is BSD licensed. We don't call it BSD/Linux.
The Microsoft Windows operating system's network stack was ripped straight out of BSD. We don't call it BSD/Windows.
Mac OS X was originally built on the Mach kernel derivative XNU. We don't call it XNU/macOS.
And what's up with this "...comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX"? Linux distributions are not generally 100% POSIX-compliant, anyway. Most normal people don't know or even care about what all this means. What matters is that "Linux," in everyday use, refers to any and all operating systems which use the Linux kernel. geez......
I use Mint from time to time when Windows is pissing me off. I really don't know much about the history or foundations of Linux, just a 30k flyover understanding of software, and a relativity decent understanding on how the components interact with each other.
Mint is not considered pure enough to be called Linux because it installs proprietary codecs and drivers out of the box.
I admit I’m a lame when it comes to this
I use mostly laptops, and I find Windows to be a better native OS for those given the driver support. For getting things done -- the application space -- Linux is much better. Running a VM is virtually free these days in terms of CPU cycles. You want a lot of RAM, but RAM is cheap. The monetary cost is nothing. I use VirtualBox, but there are other options.
LMDE with Win7 in a VB VM, 8GB RAM with a 2+GHz dual core CPU is more than enough.
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