netdev - Re: [PATCH 0/5] Rust abstractions for network device drivers

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Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2023 22:41:54 +0900 (JST)
From: FUJITA Tomonori <fujita.tomonori@...il.com>
To: miguel.ojeda.sandonis@...il.com
Cc: fujita.tomonori@...il.com, kuba@...nel.org, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
 rust-for-linux@...r.kernel.org, aliceryhl@...gle.com, andrew@...n.ch
Subject: Re: [PATCH 0/5] Rust abstractions for network device drivers

Hi,

On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:23:01 +0200
Miguel Ojeda <miguel.ojeda.sandonis@...il.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Jun 16, 2023 at 2:18 PM FUJITA Tomonori
> <fujita.tomonori@...il.com> wrote:
>>
>> As far as I know, no subsystem has accepted Rust bindings yet.
> 
> For abstractions in general (see my previous reply for "real HW"
> etc.), the KUnit subsystem [1] which is onboard and taking some
> patches through their tree / ownership of the code.
> 
> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/rust-for-linux/CABVgOSnprvxzi-z42KFjOZsiRUv7u7E2poVGJNmTfS2OU4x4AA@mail.gmail.com/
> 
>> Replacing the existing C driver for real HW with Rust new one doesn't
>> make sense, right? So a necessary condition of getting Rust bindings
>> for a subsystem accepted is that a HW verndor implements both a driver
>> and bindings for their new HW?
> 
> Not necessarily. It is true that, in general, the kernel does not
> want/accept duplicate implementations.
> 
> However, this is a bit of a special situation, and there may be some
> reasons to allow for it in a given subsystem. For instance:
> 
>   - The need to experiment with Rust.
> 
>   - To have an actual in-tree user that allows to develop the
> abstractions for a subsystem, so that later they are ready to be used
> for future, actual new drivers.
> 
>   - Pending redesigns: sometimes subsystems may have a
> redesign/refactor/experiment that they have wanted to do for a while,
> so they may take the chance to also try to write it in Rust anyway. Of
> course, that could conflate two experiments, but... :)
> 
>   - Security: there may be some modules that have been problematic in
> the past (especially if due to memory safety issues / data races), and
> the subsystem may be willing to accept a parallel implementation to
> see if it would be an improvement thanks to Rust's properties.

Yeah, I know :) But what I want to know is if there are such reasons
for netdev subsystem, a necessary condition of getting Rust bindings
accepted for the netdev maintainers.

thanks,