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by brianpgordon 2569 days ago
> Why are GPLv3 programs able to use syscalls in Linux without infecting the kernel with GPLv3 compliance requirements

Shouldn't this be the other way around? The concern would be with non-GPL programs making syscalls and getting infected with a GPLed kernel. The kernel isn't at risk of being infected.

1 comments

I’m much more paranoid about GPLv3 infecting other code over an API than I am about GPLv2 infecting other code over an API, especially now that Linux has a clearly-crafted “no copyleft shall pass” fence erected on its syscall API.
OK, but how could the kernel possibly get infected? When you publish an API your code doesn't get infected by the viral licenses of anyone who writes code against it. That doesn't make sense.