– Sep 3, 2024 7:38 pm UTC
The Linux kernel is not a place to work if you’re not ready for some, shall we say, spirited argument. Still, one key developer in the project to expand Rust’s place inside the largely C-based kernel feels the “nontechnical nonsense” is too much, so he’s retiring.
Wedson Almeida Filho, a leader in the Rust for Linux project, wrote to the Linux kernel mailing list last week to remove himself as the project’s maintainer. “After almost 4 years, I find myself lacking the energy and enthusiasm I once had to respond to some of the nontechnical nonsense, so it’s best to leave it up to those who still have it in them,” Filho wrote. While thanking his teammates, he noted that he believed the future of kernels “is with memory-safe languages,” such as Rust. “I am no visionary but if Linux doesn’t internalize this, I’m afraid some other kernel will do to it what it did to Unix,” Filho wrote.
Filho also left a “sample for context,” a link to a moment during a Linux conference talk in which an off-camera voice, identified by Filho in a Register interview as kernel maintainer Ted Ts’o, emphatically interjects: “Here’s the thing: you’re not going to force all of us to learn Rust.” In the context of Filho’s request that Linux’s file system implement Rust bindings, Ts’o says that while he knows he must fix all the C code for any change he makes, he cannot or will not fix the Rust bindings that may be affected.
Asahi Lina, a developer associated with the Asahi Linux project, expressed her frustration on Mastodon about the challenges she faces from certain members of the kernel developers community. She mentioned the obstacles in implementing memory safety in the Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) scheduler abstractions due to a subset of C kernel developers. Despite efforts to enhance the C code for better robustness and sensible lifetime requirements, her modifications were impeded by the maintainer. Lina emphasized that issues within the DRM scheduler’s C code are the sole reasons for kernel panics in her Apple GPU driver, noting, “Because I wrote it in Rust.”
Lina also expressed her concerns about the indifference of some Linux kernel maintainers towards future code quality, stability, and security, lamenting their preference to maintain the existing C code and resistance to integrating Rust, which she believes is detrimental to enhancing Linux.
Drew DeVault, founder of SourceHut, shared insights into Rust’s efforts to secure its position within the kernel, elucidating the challenging dynamics within the Linux community. DeVault described the Linux community as highly decentralized and resistant to major changes, with each of over 1,700 maintainers guarding their domain. He explained that implementing Rust in the kernel not only involves extensive coding but also a significant amount of political maneuvering.
Given the political challenges within the kernel’s community, DeVault advises Rust developers to consider creating a Linux-compatible kernel from the ground up, suggesting that distancing themselves from the existing political conflicts of the Linux Kernel Mailing List could significantly benefit Rust’s integration into kernel space.
“I was expecting [Rust] updates to be faster, but part of the problem is that old-time kernel developers are used to C and don’t know Rust,” Torvalds said. “They’re not exactly excited about having to learn a new language that is, in some respects, very different. So there’s been some pushback on Rust.” Torvalds added, however, that “another reason has been the Rust infrastructure itself has not been super stable.”
The Linux kernel is a high-stakes project in which hundreds or thousands of developers have a stake; conflict is perhaps inevitable. Time will tell how long C will remain the primary way of coding for, and thinking about, such a large yet always-moving, codebase.
Ars has reached out to both Filho and Ts’o for comment and will update this post with response.
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