this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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Ah, but I still agree with the C devs, it creates unnecessary headaches for them. Also, old habits die hard.
I view it as the same way ZFS is supported: Linus and Greg KH are like "you can maintain it, but we don't give a shit about it, and if what we do breaks ZFS support, well too bad."
The reverse is also true. Any dev wanting to contribute to Linux in rust which linus himself allowed (despite his silence on this matter) are just going to have to deal with constant headache trying to maintain compatibility with the C interfaces which the devs keep breaking. Either they should've never allowed rust in the kernel or they should force devs to at least act in good faith and collaborate (and any that refuse to, well they should be ousted because they can't behave responsibly). This entire situation is so toxic and I see that as a failure in leadership. That zfs comment is also a little toxic but I don't think it's a direct quote. It also doesn't seem like a fair comparison because from what I can tell zfs isn't even part of the kernel code base and due to legal reasons cannot be. While it would be great for the kernel not to break it, it is, for all intents and purposes an external project. This rust debacle is different because it's rust kernel devs and c kernel devs both operating in the same project and trying to find some kind of alignment. To me it seems like there's enough of an acknowledgment of the value of memory safety that rust support was considered but there's no authority figure actually supporting it or defending the devs that were invited to actually contribute in it. What a mess.