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Smart pointers for the kernel

(lwn.net)
169 points signa11 | 1 comments | 18 Oct 24 02:10 UTC | HN request time: 0.198s | source
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stonethrowaway ◴[18 Oct 24 03:33 UTC] No.41876123[source]▶
Anyone who wants to do kernel-level development should first do Embedded hardware/software interfacing. No RTOS, plain “Embedded C”, with some bit banging and dealing with voltage spikesc transients and people doing stupid shit to hardware (yes, really) and other things. Know the memory map and recite it from memory. Some might think I’m joking or being facetious - no, I’m pretty serious actually. I’d rather have an embedded person writing kernel drivers in slapped-together C than a Rustacian that complains about unsafe code and being an idiot about it. See [0] for detailed explanation.

People need to learn the niceness of safety and perfect execution is a continuum of tolerances and flimsy guarantees from unmarked silicon that could be made in US, but is most likely a knock off made in China that will fail in 1/3rd of the expected time and gives a false reading if you so much as look at it the wrong way.

[0] https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1311_05-08_mickens.pdf

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1. rcxdude ◴[18 Oct 24 08:52 UTC] No.41877525[source]▶
Plenty of people writing rust are coming from that background. And a substantial part of the reason for wanting it in linux is that the slapped-together C in linux drivers is often awful, both in terms of understanding of the hardware and in terms of the quality of the software. Rust can at least help the poor quality of the latter not affect the security and stability of the kernel so much.