linux-kernel - Re: Rust kernel policy

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Message-ID: <20250220160534.GB50639@nvidia.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:05:34 -0400
From: Jason Gunthorpe <jgg@...dia.com>
To: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org>
Cc: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@....org>, Kees Cook <kees@...nel.org>,
	Miguel Ojeda <miguel.ojeda.sandonis@...il.com>,
	Christoph Hellwig <hch@...radead.org>,
	rust-for-linux <rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org>,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Greg KH <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
	David Airlie <airlied@...il.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	ksummit@...ts.linux.dev
Subject: Re: Rust kernel policy

On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 04:07:40PM -0500, Steven Rostedt wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Feb 2025 12:52:14 -0800
> Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@....org> wrote:
> 
> > On 2/19/25 12:46 PM, Steven Rostedt wrote:
> > > I do feel that new drivers written in Rust would help with the
> > > vulnerabilities that new drivers usually add to the kernel.  
> > 
> > For driver developers it is easier to learn C than to learn Rust. I'm
> > not sure that all driver developers, especially the "drive by"
> > developers, have the skills to learn Rust.
> 
> That's a short term problem.
> 
> But it's not like we are going to ban C from all new drivers. But as Rust
> becomes more popular, we should at the very least make it easy to support
> Rust drivers.

If we had infinite resources sure, but the whole argument here is ROI
and you often here vauge assertions that it is worth it.

What I was asking for is some actual data - how many new drivers merge
per cycle, which subsystems. What is the actual impact that we could
see under this "new drivers only" idea.

Personally I think new drivers only is not sustainable. I think there
will be endless arguments about converting existing code to Rust for
various reasons. I really have a big fear about Chritoph's point "with
no clear guidelines what language is to be used for where". We already
have so many barriers to contribution. Random demands to "rewrite X in
Rust" is going to be just a joy. :(

Jason