One group believes it is Rust (progressives), one group doesn't believe that and wants to continue with C (conservatives).

If they cannot find a way to live at peace with each other, I think the only solution is for the Rust folks to start building the kernel in Rust and not try to "convert" the existing kernel to Rust piece by piece.

Why they cannot live in peace seems to be: a way that C kernel folks would not need to deal with Rust code.

At the core, the story is not that different from introducing new languages to a project.

You are introducing a new tax on everyone to pay for the new goodies you like, and those who are going to be taxed and don't like the new goodies are resisting.

One group believes it is Rust (progressives), one group doesn't believe that and wants to continue with C (conservatives).

If they cannot find a way to live at peace with each other, I think the only solution is for the Rust folks to start building the kernel in Rust and not try to "convert" the existing kernel to Rust piece by piece.

Why they cannot live in peace seems to be: a way that C kernel folks would not need to deal with Rust code.

At the core, the story is not that different from introducing new languages to a project.

You are introducing a new tax on everyone to pay for the new goodies you like, and those who are going to be taxed and don't like the new goodies are resisting.