ATI-RP,
Linux essentially was created in two parts by several people.Initially some guys started making the GPL GNU tools that implement all the UNIX standards-->shell,compiler,linker,etc etc, at that time there wasnt a kernel to make it work on a PC yet.Linus Torvalds created the linux kernel, that combined with the GNU tools forms the basis for linux.FreeBSD is similar in many ways, its basically in implementation of UNIX for the PC(personal computer-not IBM PC specifically), and it shares many of the same GNU tools and also the standards linux uses.They are separate but share the same standards and ideas.