Will Rust Revolutionize the Linux Kernel? Insights from Linus Torvalds

Linus Torvalds recently expressed, without making any promises, his hope to see Rust incorporated into the next Linux kernel version.

For more than three decades Linux has been written in C, which Torvalds describes as the most outstanding achievement of the C language. The kernel’s core follows the old C89 standard, and only in March 2022 did Torvalds decide to upgrade to the more modern C11 standard.

In recent years many open‑source Rust projects have emerged, and Rust is gaining momentum as a second development language for the Linux kernel. A Rust kernel patch set already exists, containing a few example drivers and basic infrastructure code.

At a recent open‑source summit in Austin, Texas, Torvalds said he hopes to see Rust merged into the next major kernel release. After the conference, media asked him about it and he replied, “I hope to see the Rust infrastructure merged in the next version, stay tuned.”

The upcoming Linux version will be 5.20; developers are currently working on 5.19. The average interval between major releases is nine to ten weeks, so Linux 5.19 may appear in early August, with 5.20 expected in late October or early November 2022.

Torvalds added that he will not force Rust into the kernel and that it does not need to do anything “meaningful” right away – it is simply a starting point, and he makes no commitments.

When asked why Rust is being added, AWS R&D manager Samartha Chandrashekar answered, “Rust makes it easier to write safe software,” noting its ability to ensure thread safety and prevent memory‑related errors such as buffer overflows that can lead to security vulnerabilities. Many developers share this view, and Torvalds agrees, citing memory safety and other technical features that make Rust suitable for kernel work.

However, no one plans to rewrite the kernel’s 300,000‑plus lines of code entirely in Rust.

Linux developer Nelson Elhage clarified at the Linux Plumbers Rust conference that the goal is not to rewrite the kernel in Rust but to enable a future where new code can be written safely using Rust.

Rust’s three potential areas of support are: leveraging existing kernel APIs, providing architecture support, and ensuring good ABI compatibility between Rust and C.

If all goes well, developers can expect to see some memory‑safe Rust code in the kernel later this year.

Beyond Rust, Linux 5.20 will also bring important updates for next‑generation hardware such as RDNA3, along with many new features. The new kernel is expected to appear in major distributions—including Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux—throughout 2023.