Linux Rust for Linux Drama

ronnie_gogs

ronnie_gogs

Morphing from a Geek to a Nerd
Innovator
It was a joke that Rust would destroy Linux when it was initially introduced. Its a memory safe language which made sense to be introduced to Linux kernel code base and for some it was the devil's incarnate

Anyway back to present time a new argument about rust for linux erupted in the linux mailing which caused a shit show. It was public display of people berating each other in emails and social media.

The trigger which started as a technical discussion.
It was literal drama which started in the mailing list with a developer asking for adding dma coherent allocator for abstraction from a version 8 patch set. Related for direct memory access for rust in Linux.

Subject: [PATCH v8 0/2] Add dma coherent allocator abstraction

Changes since v7:
- Remove cpu_buf() and cpu_buf_mut() as exporting a r/w interface via
a slice is undefined behaviour due to slice's requirement that the
underlying pointer should not be modified (Alice Ryhl, Robin Murphy).
- Reintroduce r/w helpers instead which includes proper safety
Click to expand...

The reply From: Christoph Hellwig (Veteran linux kernel maintainer)
No rust code in kernel/dma, please.
Click to expand...

Anyway the discussion turned from a technical discussion to Rust vs C points with abusive language and call for bringing in the code of conduct into the discussion. Linus Torvalds was absent in these discussion till now.

Anyway further conflict led to the complete meltdown of one maintainer, Hector Martin who is lead dev for Asahi Linux for apple silicon and the maintainer of ARM/Apple platform for Linux. He had a meltdown and started ranting on the email thread and on mastadon.

I'm tired.

I'm tired of seeing positive, technically impressive kernel projects
blockaded delayed by maintainers with no technical justification, and at
best end up moving along at a glacial pace.

I'm tired of seeing important contributors and maintainers give up and
throw the towel after enduring repeated misbehavior and hostility
towards their efforts from others.

I'm tired of getting messages, privately and publicly, from all kinds of
people, saying they won't touch the kernel with a 10-foot pole due to
the hostility and the baroque, regressive process.

I'm tired of seeing people get away with using words like "cancer" to
describe others' work, with zero repercussion.

I'm tired of *politely and calmly* calling out hostile and unwelcoming
behavior from maintainers and suggest ways to improve, only to be
ignored and nothing change (note: this refers to other instances, not
this instance).

I'm tired of having to spend hours or days of my time to upstream simple
things, because even the simplest of changes en up in a bikeshed.

I'm tired of having to manually format code instead of using clang-format.

I'm tired of drive-by nitpickers who send useless review comments on
code they don't take the time to understand.

I'm tired of having to review patches in an email client, where I can't
even tell which patches are for me to merge and not without writing
complex filtering rules to correlate email bodies with kernel subsystem
paths, which I don't have the time to write and maintain.

I'm tired of having to type a half dozen `b4` commands just to send a
change.

And I'm tired of hearing things will get better if I just "trust the
process" or let people work from within, while nothing seems to have
actually changed in years despite endless discussion about these
problems on the sidelines.

If shaming on social media does not work, then tell me what does,
because I'm out of ideas.

- Hector
Click to expand...

Finally Linus the one person who could have reigned in all the chaos showed up and said this.

[td]From

[td]Linus Torvalds <>[/td] [td]Date[/td] [td]Thu, 6 Feb 2025 09:58:36 -0800[/td] [td]Subject[/td] [td]Re: On community influencing (was Re: [PATCH v8 2/2] rust: add dma coherent allocator abstraction.)[/td]
[/td]

On Thu, 6 Feb 2025 at 01:19, Hector Martin <marcan@marcan.st> wrote:
>
> If shaming on social media does not work, then tell me what does,
> because I'm out of ideas.

How about you accept the fact that maybe the problem is you.

You think you know better. But the current process works.

It has problems, but problems are a fact of life. There is no perfect.

However, I will say that the social media brigading just makes me not
want to have anything at all to do with your approach.

Because if we have issues in the kernel development model, then social
media sure as hell isn't the solution. The same way it sure as hell
wasn't the solution to politics.

Technical patches and discussions matter. Social media brigading - no
than\k you.
Click to expand...

Few links :

Finally the maintainer self removed himself as a maintainer for Linux kernel. He was maintainer for ARM/Apple platform. His replacement has already been found so anyone running Linux on Apple silicon, no need to worry.

Linux Kernel drama is super funny as all emails and internal fights are public.

This video is a good summary of the fight.
 
Somebody clamored for social media orchestrated drama and got their a** served in a plate, well deserved.
Initially people on r\linux went gaga over feminine handle and gave metric tons of attention, now found it was a man behind Asahi Linux, yada, yada... though they not talking about that being embarrased of exposing own gullibility, lol.
 
Top Bottom