{"id":122013,"date":"2025-02-20T14:22:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T12:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/blog\/novosti-interneta\/mnenie-grega-kroa-hartmana-i-kejsa-kuka-o-prodvizhenii-rust-v-yadro-linux"},"modified":"2025-02-20T14:22:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T12:22:05","slug":"mnenie-grega-kroa-hartmana-i-kejsa-kuka-o-prodvizhenii-rust-v-yadro-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/news\/mnenie-grega-kroa-hartmana-i-kejsa-kuka-o-prodvizhenii-rust-v-yadro-linux","title":{"rendered":"Opinions of Greg Crow-Hartman and Case Cook on promoting Rust into the Linux kernel","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
Greg Kroah-Hartman, responsible for maintaining the stable branch of the Linux kernel, has expressed support for developing new kernel components in Rust. As someone through whom all information about bugs and vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel has passed for the last 15 years, he claims that most kernel errors are caused by unconsidered features of the C language (corner case) that are completely excluded in Rust code. <\/p>\n
Using Rust will leave behind problems like accessing memory after it has been freed, partial buffer overflows, incorrect resource deallocation during error handling, and forgotten checks for returned error codes. This will allow maintainers to focus on real issues like race conditions and logic problems, rather than getting distracted by trivialities during reviews. <\/p>\n
The existing old code in C will remain unchanged, but for new code and new drivers, the implementation of Rust will significantly improve quality. Introducing Rust will also enable structuring the internal kernel APIs in such a way that usage errors of the internal API will be nearly eliminated \u2014 the kernel has accumulated too many complex and tangled APIs, creating a heavy burden for maintainers in ensuring these APIs are used correctly. In the process of developing Rust bindings, maintainers will have the opportunity to rethink and tidy up the API, which will benefit everyone, including those using the C language. <\/p>\n
Greg does not consider Rust a \"silver bullet\" that will solve all problems in the kernel, but this language will certainly help in a vast number of situations. The support for Rust will also meet the needs of driver developers, who hope to obtain a tool that allows them to write code for their hardware, eliminating many types of errors. Regarding the mixing of several languages, Greg does not see it as a major issue; in his opinion, kernel developers have managed with more serious tasks in the past, and there is no reason to reject the introduction of new good ideas into the kernel that will help ensure the project's success for the next 20+ years. <\/p>\n
Kees Cook, former chief system administrator of kernel.org and leader of the Ubuntu Security Team, also joined the discussion. Kees clarified that this is not about rewriting existing code in the kernel, but about providing the ability to use Rust to create new drivers and subsystems. Utilizing Rust for new code will not only reduce memory-related errors but will also shorten development time. The speed of development increases due to reduced debugging efforts and strict guarantees in the language that allow for error detection at an early stage of coding, even before product testing begins. <\/p>\n
The effectiveness of the tactic of using Rust to improve the quality of new code has already been demonstrated by Google in the Android platform. It has been shown that the main source of security problems is new code, and improving its quality should be given primary attention. For older code, there is an exponential relationship between security and age (for example, code that is 5 years old has an average vulnerability density that is 3.4 times lower than that of new code). \n Source: opennet.ru<\/a> <\/p>","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"