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    This is at the very best murky, which is why there is GPL with Classpath Exception. Code running on the JDK is linked to the Java library. Code linked to GPL code is supposed to GPLed (subject to the relevant jurisdictions' interpretation). (I am not a layer!) Commented Feb 27, 2011 at 13:45
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    @tom - it's called the standard library exception - otherwise all code that called into a GPLed Linux kernel would have to be GPL Commented Feb 27, 2011 at 22:58
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    @Tom: which is exactly why the classpath exception exists, to ensure that compiled Java code (all of which relies on the standard libraries which are GPL if you downloaded the OpenJDK release, not if you downloaded the commercial release) does not have to be GPL. Commented Feb 28, 2011 at 7:52
  • this answer is correct only correct because it is released under GPL with classpath exception and not raw GPL Commented Sep 30, 2018 at 18:40