Question...

[Robert Dewar]

In this you are mistaken on two different grounds.

 * If you write your own program, and use GCC to compile it, you are
   under no obligation to release your own program under the terms of
   the GPL.  Many individuals and organizations use GCC to compile
   proprietary software.
Perhaps one very dramatic example is that much classified military
code is compiled using GCC (in particular using GNAT Pro, the
commercial version of the GNU Ada 95 compiler, which is of course
fully covered by the GPL).
I know this is off topic, but if even one person gets rid of
weird ideas about the GPL (ideas that are incidentally deliberately
promulgated by some large companies), that's worth one off topic post.