Wedson Almeida Filho is a Microsoft engineer who has been prolific in his contributions to the Rust for the Linux kernel code over the past several years. Wedson has worked on many Rust Linux kernel features and even did a experimental EXT2 file-system driver port to Rust. But he’s had enough and is now stepping away from the Rust for Linux efforts.
From Wedon’s post on the kernel mailing list:
I am retiring from the project. 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.
…
I truly believe the future of kernels is with memory-safe languages. 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.
Lastly, I’ll leave a small, 3min 30s, sample for context here: https://youtu.be/WiPp9YEBV0Q?t=1529 – and to reiterate, no one is trying force anyone else to learn Rust nor prevent refactorings of C code."
This is such a dumb take. For as much as I’d like to have a safer language in the kernel you need the current developers, the “big heads” at least because they have a lot of niche knowledge about their domains and how they implementation works (regardless of language) People shouldn’t take shit like this from the ext4 developer, but it doesn’t mean we should start vilifying all of them.
This guy’s concerns are real and valid but were expressed with the maturity of a lunatic child, but they are not all like this.
If anything, the constant coddling of a few aging individuals within the kernel and the protection of their comforts is why Linux has been so slow to adopt technologies and paradigms that developers are begging for.
Linus complains of dev burnout starving the kernel of contributors, but the processes and technologies driving kernel development are antiquated, and the very suggestion of change is either discarded or makes you the target of a public shaming by Linus himself.
I agree with your views. But I have to give praise to Linus for bringing Rust into the kernel.
Yes and the big heads in this case don’t want to share that knowledge, because why? Because they are treating the kernel like their pet project that they own and control, and they don’t wanna lose that control, rather looking at the bigger picture.
It’s kinda obvious that rust is the way forward as google has clearly shown, so why are they gatekeeping?
Yes I agree but the solution for a project so big and critical is not to fork. How do you maintain all of it while at the same time adding support to Rust?
There’s no solution, they need not only to accept that rust is going to be part of the kernel but also that it’s a good thing. Otherwise how do you cooperate efficiently.
And also if they are so big brained, should be easy to learn rust then, I mean I’m pretty small brained and I know rust.
“There’s no compromise, I’M RIGHT AND YOU’RE WRONG!”
no wonder everyone hates rustphiles
What compromise? Half code should be in rust?
What does this even have to do with rust developers, The language rust gives us the ability to have more compile time checks, and why is that a bad thing. Do you like security issues in your OS because some dev forgot to handle pointers correctly?
The only compromise Rust programmers would accept is C programmers learn Rust so when they break Rust code they can fix it.
Dude what are you on about, there is no rust programmer that want to teach fucking rust to anyone who doesn’t want learn…
This has nothing to do with C vs Rust, this has to do with security and enabling more people to develop stuff for Linux.
These so called kernel maintainers you see in the conference are only mainting the parts that they use for their filesystem, they are mainting the API, they are paid by companies who have sold support for ext4, xfs or brtfs etc… . Of course they don’t want to make their jobs any harder by learning a new language.
And of course they obfuscate the API with random naming and undocumented usage, because they want to make it hard for anyone else using trying to use the APIs.
If they don’t want to be part of the improvement, then go do something else. Yes rust is better than C for this, because guess what - there are still CVEs being made, because it’s impossible to catch everything with you eyes.
Now that’s a conspiracy theory.
When did they refuse to share knowledge?
That was what he was talking about at the conference, he literally asked for help about how things work, so he could write better APIs that they are more comfortable using.
But the response was we don’t want to write rust.
So what’s the solution that doesn’t involve C programmers writing Rust?
There’s is no other way, C is a security issue - do you understand?
So you want to force C programmers to write Rust or GTFO.
No I want the OS that I use and my server to be less prone to security flaws. If you want to call that write rust or gtfo, so be it. But that is your words not mine, I’m more concerned with security
If you tell most linux developers to gtfo, then whatever is developed by the ones who are left is not mainline linux.