Is it possible to install the Linux kernel alone?

I’m just curious if it’s possible to install the Linux kernel alone, or if you need to use one of the flavours. If it were possible, how would you do it? I don’t need a detailed tutorial. I just want to know how it would be done conceptually. I’m not good with low-level stuff, and want to know how you get an OS into the computer. I imagine it has something to do with the MBR.

Where did the “wheel” group get its name?

The wheel group on *nix computers typically refers to the group with some sort of root-like access. I’ve heard that on some *nixes it’s the group of users with the right to run su, but on Linux that seems to be anyone (although you need the root password, naturally). On Linux distributions I’ve used it seems to be the group that by default has the right to use sudo; there’s an entry in sudoers for them: