While Linux 7.0 is the next kernel version solely over Linus Torvalds’ numbering preference, there is a notable symbolic change that was sent in overnight for this new kernel merge window: formally concluding the “Rust experiment” with upstream kernel developers now in acceptance that Rust for the Linux kernel is here to stay.
The patch was talked about back in December that the Rust experiment is over and it’s here to stay. There are already uses for Rust in production environments, some Linux distributions shipping with Rust kernel code, and millions of Android devices also using it.
Sounds interesting:
Lua itself is great, it runs circles around Python in speed even without LuaJIT, and especially the startup time is almost nonexistent, which is important for scripting. Lisp adds convenience like having everything be an expression and the ability to stick an
(if)anywhere for a ternary. And since Lua is so snappy, Fennel has no noticeable overhead. Iirc the Lisp code is compiled to Lua, so long-term there’s practically no overhead at all.Although it’s been a while since I’ve used Fennel, so don’t remember if it has any nasty limitations.
There’s also a similar thing for Python, called Hy.
It does sound interesting, but I was mostly joking just to extend the copypasta.
I don’t know enough about programming to know whether it’s even suitable for writing a kernel. As far as I’m aware, Lua is mostly used for embedding scripts like in games, but the engines themselves are better written in C or Rust. I would assume a similar concept applies for writing a Kernel.
Perhaps it would have made more sense if I said Fortran or PS-Algol. It would have been more clear that it was a shitpost
Lua doesn’t have capabilities for direct access to the memory and such, and those would need to be added by either embedding Lua in C or modifying the interpreter, which is, of course, written in C. So it’s indeed mostly for scripting. Although there’s a game engine/framework Löve, where the entire game can be written in Lua.
I expect it’s not suited for kernel, yeah, but it sounds like a fun thing to try other than for kernel stuff
I agree