Hacker News: iurbwdj

New comment by iurbwdj in "Rust in the kernel is no longer experimental"

iurbwdj — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:39:47 +0000

One perspective is that Rust appears to be forced into the Linux kernel through harassment and pressure. Instead of Rust being pulled, carefully, organically and friendly, and while taking good care of any significant objections. Objections like, getting the relevant features from unstable Rust into stable Rust, or getting a second compiler like gccrs (Linux kernel uses gcc for C) fully up and running, or ensuring that there is a specification (the specification donated by/from Ferrous Systems, might have significant issues), or prioritizing the kernel higher than Rust.

If I had been enthusiastic about Rust, and wanted to see if it could maybe make sense for Rust to be part of the Linux kernel[0], I would probably had turned my attention to gccrs.

What is then extra strange is that there have been some public hostility against gccrs (WIP Rust compiler for gcc) from the rustc (sole main Rust compiler primarily based on LLVM) camp.

It feels somewhat like a corporate takeover, not something where good and benign technology is most important.

And money is at stake as well, the Rust Foundation has a large focus on fundraising, like how their progenitors at Mozilla/Firefox have or had a large focus on fundraising. And then there are major Rust proponents who openly claim, also here on Hacker News, that software and politics are inherently entwined.

[0]: And also not have it as a strict goal to get Rust into the kernel, for there might be the possibility that Rust was discovered not to be a good fit; and then one could work on that lack of fit after discovery and maybe later make Rust a good fit.

New comment by iurbwdj in "Rust in the kernel is no longer experimental"

iurbwdj — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 11:55:29 +0000

> Looks like Hector has deleted his Mastodon account, so I can't look back what he said exactly.

https://archive.md/uLiWX

https://archive.md/rESxe

New comment by iurbwdj in "Rust in the kernel is no longer experimental"

iurbwdj — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 11:50:30 +0000

https://lkml.org/lkml/2025/2/6/1292

New comment by iurbwdj in "Rust in the kernel is no longer experimental"

iurbwdj — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 11:49:09 +0000

It involved large parts of the Rust community, and the famous Rust developer Hector Martin (with an alter ego of Asahi Lina, a female vtuber, which he appears irrationally embarrassed about), harassing others.

Even Linus Torvalds called out Hector Martin.

https://lkml.org/lkml/2025/2/6/1292

> On Thu, 6 Feb 2025 at 01:19, Hector Martin wrote:

> > If shaming on social media does not work, then tell me what does, because I'm out of ideas.

> How about you accept the fact that maybe the problem is you.

> You think you know better. But the current process works.

> It has problems, but problems are a fact of life. There is no perfect.

> However, I will say that the social media brigading just makes me not want to have anything at all to do with your approach.

> Because if we have issues in the kernel development model, then social media sure as hell isn't the solution. The same way it sure as hell wasn't the solution to politics.

> Technical patches and discussions matter. Social media brigading - no than\k you.

> Linus

https://archive.md/uLiWX

https://archive.md/rESxe