Message-ID: <492c3720-138c-475d-a792-36a3f0ad62f1@gmx.de>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:38:21 +0100
From: Helge Deller <deller@....de>
To: pengfuyuan <pengfuyuan@...inos.cn>
Cc: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@...dia.com>,
 Thomas Zimmermann <tzimmermann@...e.de>, Danilo Krummrich <dakr@...nel.org>,
 Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@...gle.com>,
 Daniel Almeida <daniel.almeida@...labora.com>,
 Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@...nel.org>, Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@...il.com>,
 Gary Guo <gary@...yguo.net>, Björn Roy Baron
 <bjorn3_gh@...tonmail.com>, Benno Lossin <lossin@...nel.org>,
 Andreas Hindborg <a.hindborg@...nel.org>, Trevor Gross <tmgross@...ch.edu>,
 Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
 "Rafael J . Wysocki" <rafael@...nel.org>, David Airlie <airlied@...il.com>,
 Simona Vetter <simona@...ll.ch>, Hans de Goede <hansg@...nel.org>,
 Lee Jones <lee@...nel.org>, Sam Ravnborg <sam@...nborg.org>,
 Zsolt Kajtar <soci@....rulez.org>,
 Ville Syrjälä <ville.syrjala@...ux.intel.com>,
 rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
 dri-devel@...ts.freedesktop.org, linux-fbdev@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v1 v1 0/4] [RUST] Framebuffer driver support

On 1/27/26 09:58, pengfuyuan wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 09:16:35AM +0100, Helge Deller wrote:
>> On 1/27/26 09:04, pengfuyuan wrote:
>>> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 07:28:21PM +0900, Alexandre Courbot wrote:
>>>> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 7:01 PM JST, Thomas Zimmermann wrote:
>>>>> Hi
>>>>>
>>>>> Am 26.01.26 um 09:17 schrieb pengfuyuan:
>>>>>> This patch series adds Rust bindings and safe abstractions for the Linux
>>>>>> framebuffer subsystem, enabling framebuffer drivers to be implemented in Rust.
>>>>>
>>>>> The framebuffer subsystem is obsolete and has been deprecated for a
>>>>> decade. No new drivers accepted. Anything that really wants fbdev
>>>>> already has a driver. Can we please let it die?
>>>>
>>>> This, and the patchset is also obviously AI-generated.
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>> Thank you for the feedback.
>>> I’d like to be clear about how I used AI in this work:
>>>
>>> 1.Cover letter – Yes, I used AI to help summarize and phrase the cover letter.
>>> 2.Comments in the code – Some comments were written or refined with AI assistance.
>>> 3.Learning the codebase – When reading and understanding existing Rust-for-Linux code (including DRM and other abstractions), I used AI as a helper to analyze and explain structure and patterns.
>>> 4.Writing the code – The implementation was not fully generated by AI.  I wrote the code myself and used AI mainly to look up existing abstractions, traits, and APIs (e.g. “how does X work? ”, “what’s the right trait for Y?”)  while I was coding.
>>>
>>> So: AI was used for summaries, comments, learning, and looking
>>> things up;  the logic and structure of the code are mine, and I take
>>> responsibility for them.
>>> If you have concerns about specific parts (e.g. wording, style, or
>>> design), I’m happy to rework those patches or to adjust how I
>>> describe tool use in future submissions.
>>
>> No.
>> Please don't resend any patches for the fbdev layer.
>> There is no need to provide rust bindings for fbdev, as new
>> graphics drivers should use DRM.
>>
>> Helge
> 
> Hi Helge,
> 
> Thank you for the clarification, I understand. I will not resend any fbdev
> patches.
> 
> Just to give some background on why I started with Rust framebuffer bindings:
> our company has a new graphics card, and the plan is to gradually implement
> the display controller (DC) driver using the Rust-for-Linux DRM framework.
> My goal is to bring up the display step by step on an ARM64 system with this
> new GPU.
> 
> Since it looks like the current Rust DRM support does not yet include KMS
> abstractions (CRTC/plane/connector etc.), my initial idea was to first use a
> simple framebuffer-based approach to light up the display, and then later
> migrate the DC driver to DRM and eventually to KMS abstractions in Rust.
> 
> Given your feedback, I will drop the fbdev approach and focus on DRM instead.
> 
> I would like to ask about the current status and plans for Rust DRM KMS
> support:
> 
> - Is there any active work or a design for KMS abstractions in Rust?
> - Is there a WIP tree or an RFC that I could look at?
> - Are there specific areas where I could help (e.g. prototyping KMS bindings,
>    writing tests, or working on smaller pieces under guidance)?
> 
> My goal is to eventually run the DC driver for this new GPU using the Rust
> DRM stack on that ARM64 system, so I would be happy to help where it is most
> useful for the project.
> 
> Thank you again for your time and guidance.

Since you asked me directly, here is my very personal opinion:
Rust might be the best and most secure programming language on earth.
Nevertheless, *I* would write a standard DRM driver in C, based on
existing C APIs and drivers, as this seems to be the most fastest and
easiest way to get a functional driver that behaves as existing drivers.

I'm sure someone here on this list will provide you with
better answers to your Rust and DRM questions above.

Helge

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