Mixing Rust and C in Linux likened to cancer by kernel maintainer
Quoting: Mixing Rust and C in Linux likened to cancer by maintainer —
Developers trying to add Rust code to the Linux kernel continue to face opposition from kernel maintainers who believe using multiple languages is an unwelcome and risky complication.
Concerns surfaced last September when Microsoft software engineer Wedson Almeida Filho stepped away from the Rust for Linux project, citing frustration with "nontechnical nonsense" – which is one way to describe the difficulty of collaborating with those who have different goals.
Another One From The Register:
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Linus Torvalds to Hector Martin: 'Maybe the problem is you'
Weighing in on yet another Linux kernel spat - this time over Rust device drivers - Linux supremo Linus Torvalds has shot the messenger.
In response to Asahi Linux lead developer Hector Martin's call for Torvalds to "pipe up with an authoritative answer" to resolve the device driver impasse, and Martin's defense of "shaming on social media" as a way to counter the hostility of Linux maintainers to Rust code, Torvalds dismissed the approach and took aim at Martin.
"How about you accept the fact that maybe the problem is you," said Torvalds, who several years ago acknowledged his own difficulty with diplomatic online interaction. "You think you know better. But the current process works.
LF/Microsoft funded site:
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FOSDEM 2025: Rust Runs Riot in Linux Despite Backlash [Ed: Says "Google and Red Hat are sponsors of The New Stack." Forgets to mention Microsoft somehow... [1, 2]]
Rust should eventually replace C code in the Linux kernel. The rub is that you’ll have to wait decades for it to happen. But in the near term, expect to see a surge in Rust code that powers Linux in anything from edge devices to Microsoft’s Xbox — while many, including some maintainers of the Linux kernel, are not happy about it.
Slashdot:
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Asahi Linux Lead Developer Hector Martin Resigns From Linux Kernel - Slashdot
I no longer have any faith left in the kernel development process or community management approach.
Apple/ARM platform development will continue downstream. If I feel like sending some patches upstream in the future myself for whatever subtree I may, or I may not. Anyone who feels like fighting the upstreaming fight themselves is welcome to do so.
Also:
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Mixing Rust and C in Linux Likened To Cancer By Kernel Maintainer
This resistance follows the September departure of Microsoft engineer Wedson Almeida Filho from the Rust for Linux project, citing "nontechnical nonsense."
It's FOSS News:
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After Recent Kernel Drama, Rust for Linux Policy Put in Place
A new Linux kernel drama has unfolded over these past few weeks, where the maintainer of the DMA mapping helper code refused to accept Rust code. This gave rise to a flurry of arguments from many kernel contributors and even on social media, resulting in one of the contributors eventually quitting over loss of faith in the kernel development process.
I won't go too much into the details of the tiff, but words like “cancer” were thrown around when referring to the maintenance overhead of having a cross-language codebase in the Linux kernel. You can go through the whole thread if you are up for a long read.
Interestingly, a major development has now taken place with a Rust kernel policy being put in place to prevent future conflicts.
Falling on the sword:
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New leadership for Asahi Linux
The Asahi GNU/Linux project, which is working to support GNU/Linux on Apple silicon, has announced the resignation of Hector "marcan" Martin as its lead, and his replacement by a seven-person committee. "
Today's news is bittersweet. We are grateful to marcan for kicking off this project and tirelessly working on it these past years. Our community will miss him. Still, with your support, the project has a bright future to come
". Martin has explained his reasons for leaving at length in this blog post.
Tedium:
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Rust Drama: The Deeper Tension The Linux Kernel Faces
Martin’s downfall came after a kernel maintainer blocked a Rust contribution, calling the idea of Rust in Linux a “cancer,” and implying that anything that wasn’t in the C language would damage the maintainability of the codebase. Martin weighed in, upset about what he saw as obstructionist behavior, and implied that he needed to go to social media and draw his following into the debate just to get anything done about it.
[...]
You don’t have to like Rust. But I don’t think this is entirely about Rust. This is about a new generation of programmers clashing with the old guard. I hope this gets worked out, but I’m worried it might not.
Conde Nast:
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Asahi Linux lead resigns from Mac-based distro after tumultuous kernel debate
Working at the intersection of Apple's newest hardware and Linux kernel development, for the benefit of a free distribution, was never going to be easy. But it's been an especially hard couple of weeks for Hector Martin, project lead for Asahi Linux, capping off years of what he describes as burnout, user entitlement, and political battles within the Linux kernel community about Rust code.
Ars Technica:
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As the Kernel Turns: Rust in Linux saga reaches the “Linus in all-caps” phase - Ars Technica
Rust, a modern and notably more memory-safe language than C, once seemed like it was on a steady, calm, and gradual approach into the Linux kernel.
In 2021, Linux kernel leaders, like founder and leader Linus Torvalds himself, were impressed with the language but had a "wait and see" approach. Rust for Linux gained supporters and momentum, and in October 2022, Torvalds approved a pull request adding support for Rust code in the kernel.
By late 2024, however, Rust enthusiasts were frustrated with stalls and blocks on their efforts, with the Rust for Linux lead quitting over "nontechnical nonsense." Torvalds said at the time that he understood it was slow, but that "old-time kernel developers are used to C" and "not exactly excited about having to learn a new language." Still, this could be considered a normal amount of open source debate.
But over the last two months, things in one section of the Linux Kernel Mailing List have gotten tense and may now be heading toward resolution—albeit one that Torvalds does not think "needs to be all that black-and-white." Greg Kroah-Hartman, another long-time leader, largely agrees: Rust can and should enter the kernel, but nobody will be forced to deal with it if they want to keep working on more than 20 years of C code.
LWN:
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Linus on Rust and the kernel's DMA layer
At the end of January we ran this article on the discussions around a set of Rust bindings for the kernel's DMA-mapping layer. Many pixels have been expended on the topic since across the net, most recently in this sprawling email thread. Linus Torvalds has now made his feelings known on the topic:
You are not forced to take any Rust code, or care about any Rust code in the DMA code. You can ignore it. But "ignore the Rust side" automatically also means that you don't have any *say* on the Rust side. You can't have it both ways. You can't say "I want to have nothing to do with Rust", and then in the very next sentence say "And that means that the Rust code that I will ignore cannot use the C interfaces I maintain".
The code in question seems highly likely to be merged for the 6.15 release.
A couple more:
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Linux developers argue over Rust in kernel [Ed: Instead of materialistically improving security it is causing infighting and people who cannot even read or understand the code won't see holes]
Several Linux developers are concerned about adding Rust code to the open-source operating system, particularly in the kernel. This has led to heated discussions within the community. Linus Torvalds remains a proponent of the integration.
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Rust for Linux: Safety gains vs maintainability fears [Ed: Safety grossly hyped; Google's own kernel efforts (Fuchsia) failed; maybe Rust can help shift control over the code...]
The Linux kernel community is embroiled in a heated debate over the integration of Rust code, with contributors clashing over safety benefits, maintainability challenges, and the potential risks of a multi-language codebase.
The discussion, sparked by a policy document published by Rust for Linux lead developer Miguel Ojeda, highlights growing tensions between advocates of memory-safe Rust and defenders of the kernel’s decades-old C foundations.
Ojeda published a document outlining guidelines for Rust adoption. The draft emphasises that subsystems may opt out of Rust for “bandwidth reasons,” but Christoph Hellwig – a veteran kernel developer – immediately challenged its validity.