Rust for Linux
Project for adding Rust language to Linux kernel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rust for Linux is an ongoing project started in 2020 to add Rust as a programming language that can be used within the Linux kernel software, which has been written using C and assembly only. This project aims to leverage Rust's memory safety to reduce bugs when writing kernel drivers.[1] Progress has been slower than hoped by both Rust advocates and Linus Torvalds, lead of the Linux kernel project.[2] In December 2023, the first drivers written in Rust were accepted, and released in version 6.8.[3][4] In December 2025, it was announced that Rust in the Linux kernel is no longer experimental.[5]
- Community contributors
- Miguel Ojeda
| Rust for Linux | |
|---|---|
 The mascot of Linux, Tux, superimposed over Rust's logo | |
| Developers |
|
| Initial release | October 1, 2022 |
| Written in | Rust |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Available in | English |
| License | GPL-2.0-only with Linux-syscall-note. |
| Website | https://rust-for-linux.com/ |
| Repository | github |
History
The Linux kernel has been primarily written in C and assembly languages since its first release in 1991. Around 1997, the addition of C++ was considered and experimented upon for two weeks before being scrapped.[6] Rust was created in 2006 and combines the performance of low-level programming languages (such as C) with a focus on memory safety and a user-friendly tool set and syntax.[7]
An example Linux external loadable kernel module created using the Rust language was published by Taesoo Kim in 2013.[8][9]
The Rust for Linux project was announced in 2020 in the Linux kernel mailing list with goal of adding Rust as a programming language that could be used within the Linux project.[10] At the Open Source Summit 2022, Linus Torvalds stated that the incorporation of the project's work could begin as soon as the Linux 5.20 release, later named as Linux 6.0.[11] The first release candidate for Linux 6.0 was created on 14 August 2022, without Rust support. In the release notes for Linux 6.0-rc1, Torvalds expressed his intention for adding Rust support, "I actually was hoping that we'd get some of the first rust infrastructure, and the multi-gen LRU VM, but neither of them happened this time around."[12][13] On 19 September 2022, an article from ZDNet revealed an email from Linus Torvalds stating that "Unless something odd happens, it [Rust] will make it into 6.1".[14]
In October 2022, a pull request for accepting the implementation for Rust for Linux was approved by Torvalds.[15] As of Linux 6.1, support was intentionally left minimal in order to allow developers to test the feature.[16]
Rust for Linux developers created a new library "pinned-init" to safely and fallibly initialize memory that must not be relocated.[3] It was first included in Linux 6.4,[17] and been improved in later versions.[3]
Linux 6.10 included RISC-V processor architecture support for Rust.[18]
In July 2024 a change was accepted into Linux to support multiple Rust versions for the first time, allowing compiling using both 1.78 (Released 2 May, 2024) and 1.79 (Released 13 June, 2024).[19]
As of August 2024[update], Rust for Linux depends on unstable features of the Rust compiler.[1]
In December 2025, during the Linux Kernel Developers Summit, it was decided to promote Rust from experimental to a core part of the kernel.[5] This expands the core languages in the Linux kernel to C, assembly and Rust.
Usage
Linux kernel contains the following Rust components:
- rnull, a drop-in replacement for the null device[3][20]
- ASIX AX88772A and Realtek Generic FE-GE physical layer network drivers[3][4][21][22]
- Direct rendering manager kernel panic handler, which displays a QR code[19][23]
Other notable projects using Rust in Linux include:
- tarfs, a tar filesystem[3][24]
- NVM Express (NVMe) device driver[3]
- Android Binder IPC driver[10][3][25]
- Asahi Linux's Apple silicon AGX GPU DRM driver[26][3][27]
- PuzzleFS, a container filesystem[3][28][24]
- Read-only ext2 filesystem[24]
- Nova, intended to create a Rust nouveau Nvidia GPU driver, is being developed on the freedesktop.org project infrastructure[29][30]