The exception is necessary because the GPL is designed to be viral. The OpenJDK project has a similar exception (the Classpath exception), else anything on the

The exception is necessary because the GPL is designed to be viral. The OpenJDK project has a similar exception (the Classpath exception), else anything on the classpath would count as a derivative work. Proprietary licenses don't need those exceptions because they have a completely different objective to begin with. > Also note that at the moment Linux was created, all Linux programs were originally made for other operating systems. Programs like bash and gcc predate Linux. They couldn't be derivative works of the kernel, even if they wanted to, because the kernel didn't exist when they were created. That might be true for those applications. However, not having the syscall exception would make Linux-specific syscalls such as IO_uring accessible to GPL software only. > I highly doubt that any kernel developer could successfully sue authors of userland programs for copyright infringement, regardless of what Linus thinks about it. That would be the intent of the GPL, which is designed to extend its effects to every other software the original work is "linked" with. Remember, the GPL has been tested in Court before.