Android shares very little with a typical Linux distribution. In fact, this is where Richard Stallman's "GNU/Linux" distinction comes in handy — Android isn't really a Unix-like general purpose operating system with a Linux kernel. It's a new system which happens to use the Linux kernel, all the way down to its own custom libc implementation (called "Bionic"), which does not necessarily attempt POSIX compliance.

[This article from ZDNet][1] covers a talk which gives a pretty good overview of the system, and although it's a couple of years old it's still basically correct and helpful.


  [1]: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/burnette/patrick-brady-dissects-android/584