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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Are there any advantages of using Rust instead of C in the Linux kernel? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by BearPear@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Will there be performance and security improvements?

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[–] skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl 1 points 1 year ago

Rust code calling Rust code definitely brings safety improvements. The problem is that a lot of Rust code also needs to interact with C code (to work with pointers, for example) and that's where unsafe becomes a requirement, and where the compiler's optimizations don't get applied automatically anymore.

Unsafe Rust code in the kernel is as safe as the existing C code because unsafe code is the norm, and that's why Rust only makes things safer. However, in terms of performance improvements alone, you need to have in-depth knowledge of what abstractions you can or cannot use, and unsafe can make a bunch of easy automatic optimisations stop working.