Linus works for LF where most of its key members are server and PC and high-end cpu vendors, where resource is plenty so you can run, say 100 static programs.
There is a different market called embedded devices, 64MB-256MB RAM are still very common and there are probably 100x more devices in this segment than LF members' fat ones combined. Without shared library, you will quickly run out of RAM/Storage space on them.