McKenney: So You Want to Rust the Linux Kernel?

Paul McKenney has started a blog series on Rust for the Linux kernel. He has posted six of a planned 11 articles, though several are labeled as "under construction".

This series focuses mostly on use cases and opportunities, rather than on any non-trivial solutions. Please note that I am not in any way attempting to dictate or limit Rust's level of ambition. I am instead noting the memory-model consequences of a few potential levels of ambition, ranging from "portions of a few drivers", "a few drivers", "some core code" and up to and including "the entire kernel". Greater levels of ambition will require greater willingness to accommodate a wider variety of LKMM [Linux-kernel memory model] requirements.

[...]These blog posts will therefore present approaches ranging upwards from trivial workarounds. But be warned that some of the high-quality approaches require profound reworking of compiler backends that have thus far failed to spark joy in the hearts of compiler writers. In addition, Rust enjoys considerable use outside of the Linux kernel, for example, as something into which to rewrite inefficient Python scripts. (A megawatt here, a megawatt there, and pretty soon you are talking about real power consumption!) Therefore, there are probably sharp limits beyond which the core Rust developers are unwilling to go.