Davide Biondi via Dng said on Mon, 1 Sep 2025 11:05:53 +0200

>Hello Devuan community,
>
>my name is D. I am not a computer scientist, but I have been a
>long-time Linux user with some entry-level coding experience. I am
>writing because I am concerned about the growing adoption of Rust in
>the Linux kernel and in core packages (such as uutils-coreutils). From
>my point of view, Rust brings several risks:
>
>1-It introduces permissive MIT/Apache licensing into the very core of
>Linux, which could favor closed-source derivatives and weaken the GPL
>reciprocity that made Linux strong.
>
>2-The Rust toolchain is complex, not fully bootstrappable from 100%
>free sources, and relies on binary distributions. This reduces
>auditability and increases dependency on external actors.
>
>3-The expansion of Rust in the kernel and in base utilities may bind
>the Linux ecosystem to non-fully-free toolchains and reduce long-term
>freedom for users and developers.
>
>4-Combined with the ever-growing scope of systemd, this convergence of
>design and licensing risks turning Linux into something more
>monolithic and Windows-like, moving it away from the traditional Unix
>philosophy.

If I read you correctly, you're not concerned with Rust as a language,
but instead the licensing ramifications it brings. Wow, I didn't expect
that!

One of my buddies has strong opinions on licenses and knows a lot more
about it than I do, so I'll send him a copy of your email, offlist, to
get his take on it.

The one comment I can make, which is orthogonal to what you're saying,
is that Rust is a great language for applications where security and
lack of bugs is super important. Like in a kernel, for instance. I gave
a GoLUG presentation on Rust a few months ago, and I can tell you it's
an excellent language when safety is one of the top priorities.


>Devuan has already solved the problem of systemd by providing a
>systemd-free Debian fork.
>
>My question is: what steps, if any, is the Devuan developer community
>considering in order to provide or support a Rust-free kernel option?

Wow, that would be a heavy lift. I don't know that much about the
Devuan team, but I'd be worried that if they took on any new
responsibilities, they wouldn't be able to effectively maintain the
Devuan distro in the face of constant
Debian/systemd/poettering/microsoft/redhat sabotage.

Let me email my buddy and ask him about the licensing issues.

SteveT

Steve Litt

http://444domains.com