Rust in Production Rust4Linux with Danilo Krummrich
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Dec 11, 2025 Danilo Krummrich, a Linux kernel engineer at Red Hat and core contributor to the Rust for Linux project, discusses the revolutionary integration of Rust into the Linux kernel. He explains how Rust's memory safety surpasses C++, and shares insights on his journey through kernel development. The conversation delves into the Nova GPU driver, the technical challenges of adopting Rust, and the cultural shift necessary for its acceptance. Danilo also highlights the improved safety and productivity Rust brings for kernel drivers, making a compelling case for its future in Linux.
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Rust's Trade-Off: Complexity For Safety
- Rust is difficult but makes many kernel problems easier to solve.
- Danilo became convinced Rust has a big future in the Linux kernel after learning its concepts.
From Nouveau To Nova In Rust
- Danilo took maintainership of Nouveau and evaluated building a new Rust-based driver, Nova.
- They chose Rust to address complexity, race conditions, and memory issues in GPU drivers.
No Cargo — Kernel Uses Its Build System
- Kernel Rust builds integrate into the existing kernel build system, not Cargo.
- You add a kconfig and Makefile much like a C driver and the kernel build handles compilation.