Slightly tangential: You have your history slightly off.
Before Linux was even conceived, the GNU project was started, but its aim was not writing Unix tools, but to write an entire Unix replacement – Unix kernel, Unix tools, all of it. The GNU tools were initially written not for use in existing proprietary Unixes, but for use in the (then thought to be) soon upcoming GNU system. However, since the GNU tools were superior to the aging and buggy Unix implementations, the GNU tools were widely ported and became very popular, and the patches for running the tools on contemporary Unix systems were accepted upstream. Then, the name “GNU” came to be associated with these tools, and not with the actual project to replace Unix; the fact that the GNU kernel never really materialized did not help. Only then did Linux (the kernel) burst onto the scene, and it happily noticed that there were all these tools available to be easily ported (and they were all adapted to be easily portable), and the concept of a “Linux system” was coined, meaning a Unix-like system with additional Unix-like tools gathered from around the Internet. Too bad that these were all actually the GNU tools, made by the GNU project for GNU, a replacement for Unix. A Unix-like system with the GNU tools, using Linux as the kernel, then fulfilled the object of the GNU project. This is why GNU people are slightly irked when this system is called a “Linux system” – it’s not about the size of the kernel vs. the GNU tools, it’s that the goal of the GNU project was always a full Unix system, and the Linux kernel was the final component, the appearance of which allowed the project to be realized.
No disrespect intended towards the GNU project. I'm aware that they precede Linux and am grateful for all the work they've done. I was specifically recalling having read Linus' original announcement[0]:
I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work. This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)
And took that to mean that the key rewrites were being done by Linus himself, and possibly other volunteers working on getting the "userland" apps ported. I suppose on cursory examination, it should be obvious that the mention of 'gcc' implies that the GNU compiler had already been written.
Before Linux was even conceived, the GNU project was started, but its aim was not writing Unix tools, but to write an entire Unix replacement – Unix kernel, Unix tools, all of it. The GNU tools were initially written not for use in existing proprietary Unixes, but for use in the (then thought to be) soon upcoming GNU system. However, since the GNU tools were superior to the aging and buggy Unix implementations, the GNU tools were widely ported and became very popular, and the patches for running the tools on contemporary Unix systems were accepted upstream. Then, the name “GNU” came to be associated with these tools, and not with the actual project to replace Unix; the fact that the GNU kernel never really materialized did not help. Only then did Linux (the kernel) burst onto the scene, and it happily noticed that there were all these tools available to be easily ported (and they were all adapted to be easily portable), and the concept of a “Linux system” was coined, meaning a Unix-like system with additional Unix-like tools gathered from around the Internet. Too bad that these were all actually the GNU tools, made by the GNU project for GNU, a replacement for Unix. A Unix-like system with the GNU tools, using Linux as the kernel, then fulfilled the object of the GNU project. This is why GNU people are slightly irked when this system is called a “Linux system” – it’s not about the size of the kernel vs. the GNU tools, it’s that the goal of the GNU project was always a full Unix system, and the Linux kernel was the final component, the appearance of which allowed the project to be realized.