A technical reflection on why the Linux kernel should continue using C instead of Rust, especially for legacy hardware support and long-term maintainability.
It’s all binary in the end. I wouldn’t focus too much on the language but on things like test coverage, use of design patterns and readability of the source. Yes, maintainability is an aspect too, which includes the programming language. But rustlang isn’t that unapproachable or exotic anymore. Dogmatic views don’t help here.
In the end it should be a decision made by the developers and maintainers of the project - they have to work with it, not the general public.
Edit: The author by all means should share his opinions. But is he involved in the linux development from the inside or is he a spectator?
readability of the source
C is more clean to read than Rust the only thing I don’t like from C is the headers files in my opinion if Linux migrates to Rust, FreeBSD will be on the rise!
It’s all binary in the end. I wouldn’t focus too much on the language but on things like test coverage, use of design patterns and readability of the source. Yes, maintainability is an aspect too, which includes the programming language. But rustlang isn’t that unapproachable or exotic anymore. Dogmatic views don’t help here.
In the end it should be a decision made by the developers and maintainers of the project - they have to work with it, not the general public.
Edit: The author by all means should share his opinions. But is he involved in the linux development from the inside or is he a spectator?