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Git implemented in Rust

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Re: Git implemented in Rust

#62

Let's port already portable software to non-portable languages! Yay!

If you really needed to run Rust code on some platform LLVM doesn’t natively support, it does allow you to compile to C. Presumably you could then compile that using whatever C compiler works for your platform. Although Rust is not as portable as C, going through these hoops would mean that —- modulo codegen bugs —- the generated C code should still be as memory-safe as the original Rust code.

> it does allow you to compile to C

no, there is not any fully featured or official way to do that at the moment.

Re: Git implemented in Rust

#64
post #30

Let's port already portable software to non-portable languages! Yay!

What do you mean by non-portable? Can't run on 32mb RAM?

You can run Rust code on microcontrollers where 32mb of RAM is far beyond the amount available. You won't be able to compile on that platform, but you can certainly target it (but git might not fit).

Re: Git implemented in Rust

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One issue is under the Berne baseline, even given github's license grant[0], there is no license to make adaptation, arrangement or derivative work. So it's unclear that the patch would even be legal to start with, in the sense that it's either a modification / adaptation of the work or a derivative of it. [0] https://help.github.com/en/articles/github-terms-of-service#...

Git derives patches from files on disk, so the patch inherits the file's license. Logically you commit files or even the whole source tree, a patch is an optimization detail, which is used to rebuild the source tree at a given point, so it's a matter of what license the source tree has at that point.

This isn't really relevant to the legal status of a change (i.e. patch) to a proprietary work where the source code is public.

The answer is that making the change is already usually copyright infringement (though I think some countries have a concept of private copies being exempt from these types of restrictions). But redistribution of your patch would definitely be copyright infringement because a license to create a derived work was not given to you -- and patches are by definition derived works.

Re: Git implemented in Rust

#67
post #17
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arguably by downloading it from github you’ve made an illegal copy.

No, you copied on your hard drive something that was offered to you for free on github. Hosting that code yourself somewhere else would be illegal though.

> No, you copied on your hard drive something that was offered to you for free on github.

It wasn't offered for free local reproduction since that right was not explicitly granted, and Github's license grant does not grant it either (as far as my reading goes). Though the country you're in may have a private copy exception, in which case you'd be in the clear I think (depending on the specifics of that exception).

Re: Git implemented in Rust

#68
Can somebody tell me what is behind the recent rewrite-all-the-things-in-rust craze? I get it can have some benefits in terms of security, but it seems rewriting so many things in it just for the sake of it is a bit excessive.

I understand some of these are very likely for educational purposes (like this one and others; it's good for getting more familiar with the language), but it still seems to be a bit of a strange trend (especially since people who don't need to learn are doing it, seemingly just because "yay rust").

Re: Git implemented in Rust

#69
post #2

I don't see any info about a license. Strongly recommend using some standard FOSS license before plenty of people add commits and it gets a big mess clearing up the licensing situation later.

Easiest way to fix that is often just sending a PR with whatever is the “default” license for that particular eco-system. For Rust that is (afaik) MIT. Why don’t you go try it? ;)

As of a few minutes ago the project now has an MIT license. So that clears that up!

https://github.com/chrisdickinson/git-rs/blob/master/LICENSE...

Re: Git implemented in Rust

#70
post #68

Can somebody tell me what is behind the recent rewrite-all-the-things-in-rust craze? I get it can have some benefits in terms of security, but it seems rewriting so many things in it just for the sake of it is a bit excessive. I understand some of these are very likely for educational purposes (like this one and others; it's good for getting more familiar with the language), but it still seems to be a bit of a strang…

Rewriting existing software in a new language is one of the best ways to learn a language.

> especially since people who don't need to learn are doing it

Don't need to learn?? There's always something to learn.

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