Permission to cite Linux kernel function declarations as prior art in a paper submitted to ISO

Hello!

My name is Christopher Bazley and I am a member of BSI (the British Standar=
ds Institution) and WG14 (the international standardization working group f=
or the programming language C).

I would be grateful for advice on whether I can include content from Linux =
kernel source code in a paper that I soon plan to submit to the C standards=
 committee, via the process outlined here: https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc=
22/wg14/www/contributing.html

The Linux kernel mailing list FAQ makes clear that they aren't interested i=
n answering questions like this, and instead direct questioners here.

The content I would like to include in my paper comprises only the kvasprin=
tf and kasprintf function declarations from Linux, the vasprintf and asprin=
tf function declarations from GNU/BSD, and my own summary of their features=
 and usage. I am citing them as =91prior art=92 in a paper proposing a stan=
dard string buffer type for the C programming language.

I order to participate in ISO activities, I had to accept their policies (h=
ttps://www.iso.org/declaration-for-participants-in-iso-activities.html) whi=
ch include:

=93Content, such as publications, documents, text, figures, images or other=
 content that you submit to the ISO or ISO/IEC standards development proces=
s may be copyright protected. Copyright in such content remains with the in=
itial copyright owner. If you offer such content, you undertake to declare =
this to ISO or ISO/IEC, identify the name of the copyright holder and assis=
t ISO or ISO/IEC in obtaining appropriate permission to i) share the conten=
t in the standards development process, ii) to publish the content, or part=
s thereof, in original or modified form in ISO or ISO/IEC standards and iii=
) to exploit the content as part of an ISO or ISO/IEC standard according to=
 ISO and IEC practice.=94

To be clear, my proposal is not simply to standardize the Linux functions, =
therefore I do not anticipate them being published =93in original or modifi=
ed form in ISO or ISO/IEC standards=94. Standardizing the GNU/BSD functions=
 isn't a terrible idea, but that isn't what I'm proposing either. However, =
I would like to =93share the content in the standards development process=
=94 (with appropriate acknowledgement of the licence and copyright which ap=
plies to Linux source code and FreeBSD documentation).

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html says:

"You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or i=
n part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be l=
icensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of thi=
s License."

and

"These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable =
sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonab=
ly considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this Licen=
se, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them =
as separate works."

I think it's highly questionable whether the new string functions that my p=
aper proposes are "derived from" Linux. Functions similar to the GNU/BSD fu=
nctions vasprintf and asprintf, but which return a pointer to the allocated=
 string (rather than requiring the caller to pass the address of an object =
in which to store a pointer), have existed in many code bases which are pub=
lished under non-GNU licences. I would argue that such an interface is 'obv=
ious'.

In any case, that pattern is not precisely what my paper proposes either: t=
he functions that I propose return a pointer to a 'struct' type, not a 'cha=
r' array.

May I assume that my proposed usage is acceptable under the terms of the GP=
L-2.0 licence which apply to the relevant Linux code?
May I also assume that if an interface similar to kvasprintf and kasprintf =
were incorporated into the C standard then the whole of the C standard woul=
d not fall under the terms of GPL-2.0?

Many thanks,
Chris
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are confid=
ential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, p=
lease notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to any=
 other person, use it for any purpose, or store or copy the information in =
any medium. Thank you.