At Open Source Summit Japan, Linux and Git creator Linus Torvalds talked about Rust in Linux, Linux maintainer fatigue, and AI's future role in Linux and open-source development.

At Open Source Summit Japan, Linux and Git creator Linus Torvalds talked about Rust in Linux, Linux maintainer fatigue, and AI’s future role in Linux and open-source development.

  • wiki_me@lemmy.mlEnglish
    25·
    1 year ago

    That said, Torvalds continued, “Rust has not really shown itself as the next great big thing. But I think during next year, we’ll actually be starting to integrate drivers and some even major subsystems that are starting to use it actively. So it’s one of those things that is going to take years before it’s a big part of the kernel. But it’s certainly shaping up to be one of those.”

    I don’t know about that, languages which are based on standards (c++ , javascript, c) seem to have much better enduring popularity, i don’t want to see rust becoming less and less popular which will lead to less available developers (like what is happening with ruby).

      • 0ops@lemm.ee
        1·
        1 year ago

        I assumed that he was talking about the fact the the languages he listed have a lot of syntax in common with each other, and with a few other languages. I could be wrong though

    • jaybone@lemmy.world
      9·
      1 year ago

      Yeah… rust in the kernel scares me. Lol they are already worried about not having enough contributors, so…?

      • onlinepersona@programming.devEnglish
        23·
        1 year ago

        they = rust or the linux kernel?

        The linux kernel doesn’t have enough contributors because it’s really difficult + the entire organisational side of it works on antique tech (IRC and mailinglists). The majority of the project itself is also in C which has a horrible developer experience: linting, documentation, debugging, code completion, and the lack of a proper IDE. The entire development cycle is convoluted. How do you seriously want to attract people to the project if everything looks like it’s still in a development cycle of the 90s?

        If I were to discover a one-line bug in the kernel by reading it, actually testing the one-line fix would take me, as a newbie probably a solid week. Getting it into the kernel itself would probably take even longer.

        The kernel is also known for Linus’ outbursts and being filled with neckbeard elitists. The project in my eyes has an image problem.

        As for rust, if that’s what you meant, I’d be interested in knowing the source for not having enough contributors.

    • TheFriendlyArtificer@beehaw.org
      4·
      1 year ago

      Speaking as a non Rustacean, I’m pretty okay with it becoming more integrated.

      It’s safe, performant, and isn’t any more difficult to pick up than C++. C has a weird aura about it that makes it seem intimidating despite the fact that it is the simplest language (macros notwithstanding) that I’ve ever used.

      Based on Google’s recent track record of mind-boggling incompetence on all fronts, I want Go kept as far away from core functionality as humanly possible. This leaves either adding more cruft to an already ungainly C++, continuing to use Boost (another Google product) with C, or to pivot to a more modern language.

      • caseyweederman@lemmy.ca
        3·
        1 year ago

        Agreed re: Google.
        I dunno what the solution is. The world without Google is going to be a very different place. Do you think it’s even possible for them to turn things around?

        • TheFriendlyArtificer@beehaw.org
          2·
          1 year ago

          I think it would take a pretty major sea change for them. They technically split up into Alphabet, but I don’t know of a single person that actually uses that when describing them.

          Even if they did change things around, and I would wager that the entrenched bureaucracy will make that impossible, their name is toxic to a lot of tech nerds. We may be a minority, but we talk and people listen. Even the non techies in my life know that they can’t maintain a simple messaging app, responded to (rightful!) concerns about data loss by locking the support threads, and has jacked up the price of YouTube on a yearly basis.

          They’ve spectacularly failed at video game consoles, social media, banking/credit cards, IOT, messaging, video, and can’t even maintain a semblance of consistency in their office suite. At work I have three different ways to receive instant messages, and it’s a crapshoot as to which one a coworker will use.

          And let’s not even get into how absolutely useless their search is now that everything has been gamed by SEO. Duckduckgo has been my default for years, but now it’s consistently returning better results than big G.

          If they managed to correct course tomorrow, it would take multiple years for me to even begin to trust them again.

          • caseyweederman@lemmy.ca
            1·
            1 year ago

            Yeah. Extremely unlikely and probably impossible.
            It’s incredible how very much they have been able to fail but still continue operating.