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this post was submitted on 06 May 2025
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Linux
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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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Now we just need to rewrite the Linux kernel in Rust
Does it have to be Linux? Some greybeards are pretty opposed to it. I wonder if it would be easier to make our own ~~theme park~~ kernel with ~~blackjack and hookers~~ memory and thread safety, like Redox.
In order to be a viable general use OS, probably yes. It would be an enormous amount of effort to reach a decent range of hardware compatibility without reusing the work that has already been done. Maybe someone will try something more ambitious, like writing a rust kernel with C interoperability and a linux-like API so we can at least port linux drivers to it as a "temporary" solution.
I remember there being a bit of talk around a Linux driver compatibility layer for Redox in the future, but I can't find anything about it, so I could be misremembering.
What do you mean by "C interoperability and a linux-like API", exactly?
Right, but I'm talking specifically about a kernel which supports building parts of it in C. Rust as a language supports this but you also have to set up all your processes (building, testing, doc generation) to work with a mixed code base. To be clear, I don't image that this part is that hard. When I called this a "more ambitious" approach, I was mostly referring to the effort of maintaining forks of linux drivers and API compatibility.
Ugh, I forgot about that. I wonder how much effort it would be to keep up with the linux API changes. I guess it depends on how many linux drivers you would use, since you don't need 100% API compatibility. You only need whatever is used by the drivers you care about.
This will delay Hurd by another 40 years
There's RedoxOS already.
ew MIT license
¯_(ツ)_/¯ GPL of Linux didn't help Android being more open either. And the driver being implemented in the kernel actually is an obstacle to it, @bunitor.
it's also a microkernel, double ew