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The Case for Memory Safe Roadmaps

nsa.gov

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Re: The Case for Memory Safe Roadmaps

#47
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the uptake of Rust as far as Linux kernel dev goes? Is it being positively welcomed and seeing a rise in usage or is it still at PoC stage? Any ongoing rewrites of important subsystems?

So far 61 files [0], vs 52k for C, so about 0.1%. [0]: https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Atorvalds%2Flinux++languag...

It may not be much at the moment, but the thing that I find encouraging is that there seems to be very little pushback against it; the sanity of the Rust approach is very much accepted now.

Re: The Case for Memory Safe Roadmaps

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Next thing they'll be giving requirements for people building bridges, houses, and gas and electricity fittings. Seriously, I think the time has long since passed software needs regulating. It's a major part of modern society, and as far as I'm aware, most people aren't opposed to building standards in principle.

People figured out how to build buildings prior to creating building codes

Re: The Case for Memory Safe Roadmaps

#49
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on early days of Rust in the Linux kernel, the segmentation of safe and unsafe code can significantly reduce the surface area within a kernel.

What's the uptake of Rust as far as Linux kernel dev goes? Is it being positively welcomed and seeing a rise in usage or is it still at PoC stage? Any ongoing rewrites of important subsystems?

Most of the interesting work is not yet upstreamed. A particularly interesting example is the Apple Sillicon GPU driver in Asahi Linux.

Re: The Case for Memory Safe Roadmaps

#50
post #6

Their "Appendix: Memory Safe Languages" lists: C#, Go, Java, Python, Rust & Swift

Why is Python listed there and not other languages like Ruby, Javascript or Perl?

Commenting bc I had the same question.

My impression of historical Python is that is an old, partially arcane language that due to D.S/AI is now popular; I would initially think it would be no better than those other interpreted. Python does these things well... mainly due to pandas/dataframes/polars.

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