Why Linux Dropped Intel ICC Support and What It Means for Developers
The Linux kernel removed Intel ICC compiler support in the 6.3 release, citing the compiler's deprecation, the shift to LLVM/Clang‑based DPC++, and the continued dominance of GCC and Clang, resulting in a cleaner codebase without any functional loss.
Last year we reported that the Linux kernel was considering dropping support for the Intel ICC compiler; the discussion has now concluded. On the final day of the Linux 6.3 merge window, Linus Torvalds merged a patch that removes Intel ICC compiler support code from the kernel.
Intel has already deprecated the ICC compiler and is transitioning to a modern Intel DPC++ compiler based on LLVM/Clang; the older ICC is now called the "Intel C++ Compiler Classic".
The kernel's ICC‑specific header files have not been touched for three years, and many developers and users have forgotten or never knew that ICC support existed. In the October discussion about abandoning ICC for kernel builds, no one volunteered that they were using or planning to use ICC to compile the latest kernel code.
Today, GCC and LLVM/Clang remain the primary compilers for the mainline Linux kernel. GCC has long been the default choice, and in recent years LLVM/Clang has received extensive adaptation work and added many compiler features tailored for kernel builds.
For these reasons, dropping ICC support incurs no loss and simply makes the kernel codebase cleaner.
Related link: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=95207db8166ab95c42a03fdc5e3abd212c9987dc
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