While Linux 7.0 is the next kernel version solely over Linus Torvalds’ numbering preference, there is a notable symbolic change that was sent in overnight for this new kernel merge window: formally concluding the “Rust experiment” with upstream kernel developers now in acceptance that Rust for the Linux kernel is here to stay.
The patch was talked about back in December that the Rust experiment is over and it’s here to stay. There are already uses for Rust in production environments, some Linux distributions shipping with Rust kernel code, and millions of Android devices also using it. Miguel Ojeda wrote on that patch:
“The experiment is done, i.e. Rust is here to stay.
I hope this signals commitment from the kernel to companies and other entities to invest more into it, e.g. into giving time to their kernel developers to train themselves in Rust.
Thanks to the many kernel maintainers that gave the project their support and patience throughout these years, and to the many other
developers, whether in the kernel or in other projects, that have made this possible. I had a long list of 173 names in the credits of the original pull that merged the support into the kernel, and now such a list would be way longer, so I will not even try to compose one, but again, thanks a lot, everybody.”
That patch is part of today’s Rust pull request. Besides the documentation update, that patch also adds the “__rust_helper” annotation for improving Rust kernel builds with kernel LTO usage. There are also various enhancements to the Rust kernel crates but nothing too incredibly noteworthy at large.
