The Linux approach reflects the social structure this project has been developed in.
The Linux project needs to be able to evolve independently of other projects, so they do just that.
This is a classic case of technical architectures following most of the time social structures.
> Systems calls form an API and it needs to be stable and managed.
In some cases (e.g; nearly all the other oses...) system calls form an internal API, and they don't need to be stable, and they actually even don't need to be accessible except to intermediate layers provided in a coordinated way.
The Linux project needs to be able to evolve independently of other projects, so they do just that.
This is a classic case of technical architectures following most of the time social structures.
> Systems calls form an API and it needs to be stable and managed.
In some cases (e.g; nearly all the other oses...) system calls form an internal API, and they don't need to be stable, and they actually even don't need to be accessible except to intermediate layers provided in a coordinated way.