### 5.3 Thread-safety of the runtime library

GNU Fortran can be used in programs with multiple threads, e.g. by using OpenMP, by calling OS thread handling functions via the `ISO_C_BINDING` facility, or by GNU Fortran compiled library code being called from a multi-threaded program.

The GNU Fortran runtime library, (`libgfortran`), supports being called concurrently from multiple threads with the following exceptions.

During library initialization, the C `getenv` function is used, which need not be thread-safe. Similarly, the `getenv` function is used to implement the `GET_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE` and `GETENV` intrinsics. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that the environment is not being updated concurrently when any of these actions are taking place.

The `EXECUTE_COMMAND_LINE` and `SYSTEM` intrinsics are implemented with the `system` function, which need not be thread-safe. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure that `system` is not called concurrently.

Finally, for platforms not supporting thread-safe POSIX functions, further functionality might not be thread-safe. For details, please consult the documentation for your operating system.