Tux Machines

LWN on Linux 6.3 and Rust APIs

Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 17, 2023

The rest of the 6.3 merge window

> Linus Torvalds released 6.3-rc1 and closed the 6.3 merge window as expected on March 5. By that time, 12,717 non-merge commits (and 848 merges) had found their way into the mainline kernel; nearly 7,000 of those commits came in after the first-half merge-window summary was written. The second half of the 6.3 merge window was thus a busy time, with quite a bit of new functionality landing in the mainline.

Kernel time APIs for Rust

↺ Kernel time APIs for Rust

> While the 6.3 kernel has gained more support for the Rust language, it still remains true that there is little that can be done in Rust beyond the creation of a "hello world" module. That functionality was already available in C, of course, with a level of safety similar to what Rust can provide. Interest is growing, though, in merging actually useful modules written in Rust; that will require some more capable infrastructure than is currently present. A recent discussion on the handling of time values in Rust demonstrates the challenges — and opportunities — inherent in this effort.

> Asahi Lina, who is implementing a graphics driver for Apple hardware in Rust, has posted a number of pieces of Rust infrastructure, including a module for timekeeping functions.

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