Do you have any reference about Linus Torvalds wanting to build a whole
operating system by himself? As far as I know the Linux project has always
been about developing a kernel. Only a kernel.
Of course GNU only is a part of the operating system we use today. The most
significant part (do not forget that GNOME is a GNU subproject, and so is
GCC). More significant than Linux. Whatever the metrics you choose: the
number of lines of code, the number of executed lines of code (most of Linux
is drivers and you only execute a few), the number of contributors, the
number of components (one vs. many), ... and, of course, the historical role.
It simply is unfair to mention Linux without mentioning GNU. And because GNU
supports a ethical/social/political project, this injustice really is
detrimental: many users of GNU/Linux think Linus Torvalds created the whole
system and they never end up on http://gnu.org to read about the
ethical/social/political project.
