--- title: Rust is the future of Linux | daily.dev description: Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux kernel stable branch maintainer, has publicly endorsed Rust as the future of the Linux kernel. The core argument is not just... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/rust-is-the-future-of-linux-csczmzvt1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Rust is the future of Linux | daily.dev og:description: Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux kernel stable branch maintainer, has publicly endorsed Rust as the future of the Linux kernel. The core argument is not just... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/rust-is-the-future-of-linux-csczmzvt1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/cSCZMZvt1.png og:image:alt: Rust is the future of Linux og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Rust is the future of Linux **[Let's Get Rusty](https://daily.dev/sources/letsgetrusty)** · 5 min read · 101 upvotes · 11 comments ## Summary Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux kernel stable branch maintainer, has publicly endorsed Rust as the future of the Linux kernel. The core argument is not just memory safety, but that Rust's compile-time enforcement of data validation, memory lifetimes, locking rules, and error handling reduces the burden on the kernel's ~150 maintainers who review code from ~5,000 contributors. Greg claims 80% of Linux security vulnerabilities would have been impossible if the code were written in Rust. The current strategy is to write new components and drivers in Rust while keeping existing battle-tested C code intact. There are currently about 113,000 lines of Rust in the kernel. The recommendation for aspiring kernel developers is to learn enough C to understand the existing codebase and enough Rust to contribute to new components. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Why does Greg Kroah-Hartman think Rust is the future of the Linux kernel? Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux kernel stable branch maintainer, argues Rust helps solve the kernel's maintainer bottleneck: about 5,000 developers contribute code but only around 150 maintainers can review it. Rust enforces memory lifetimes, locking rules, error handling, and type safety at compile time, offloading review work from humans to the compiler and reducing recurring bugs. _Developers weighing systems languages for kernel work can follow arguments like this one on daily.dev._ ### How much Rust code is currently in the Linux kernel? There are about 113,000 lines of Rust code in the Linux kernel as stated by maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman. The adoption strategy is to write new components, particularly drivers, in Rust while leaving existing battle-tested C code untouched, rather than rewriting the kernel wholesale. _Track how Rust's footprint in Linux grows over time on daily.dev before betting a project on it._ ### What percentage of Linux kernel security vulnerabilities could Rust have prevented? Greg Kroah-Hartman states that 80% of Linux security vulnerabilities would have been impossible if the code had been written in Rust. These are largely bugs from mishandled resource allocation and locking, issues Rust catches at compile time rather than leaving to manual code review. _Anyone assessing Rust's security case for systems code can dig into figures like these via daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@deepjoshi\_dev** · 7 upvotes > Here we go again rust is pretty much getting everywhere even where it should not. **@baz14** · 5 upvotes > Languages should be chosen for practical reason, not ideological ones. Now, Rust is objectively the better fit for the kind of work. It gives you fewer opportunities to shoot yourself in the foot **@agustinbarrientos** · 2 upvotes > This compiler check is worth keeping. Reviewer number 150 has seen enough lifetime bugs **@eleftheriossimotas** · 1 upvotes > The other thing these days is how well an llm writes code in the language of choice. > LLMs are seemingly decent with Rust and getting more proficient given the body of code generated and available to train. > Zig for example is on the other end of the spectrum - best to handwrite everything it seems currently. **@stefanjancar** · 0 upvotes > Another sh.t language. :( ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Rust Could Eliminate 80% of Linux Kernel CVEs\!](https://daily.dev/posts/rust-could-eliminate-80-of-linux-kernel-cves--72m3rwq8v) · It's Foss · 21 upvotes · 7 comments - [Greg KH Calls For More Rust Linux Developers](https://daily.dev/posts/greg-kh-calls-for-more-rust-linux-developers-v7xawe7f5) · Phoronix · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust), [#c](https://daily.dev/tags/c) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/rust-is-the-future-of-linux-csczmzvt1) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Rust is the future of Linux","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/rust-is-the-future-of-linux-csczmzvt1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/rust-is-the-future-of-linux-csczmzvt1"},"datePublished":"2026-08-10T14:41:25.197Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T19:43:55.385Z","description":"Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux kernel stable branch maintainer, has publicly endorsed Rust as the future of the Linux kernel. 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Now, Rust is objectively the better fit for the kind of work. It gives you fewer opportunities to shoot yourself in the foot","datePublished":"2026-08-11T06:52:00.899Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/cSCZMZvt1#c-8Yf0IEbYM","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Baz","url":"https://daily.dev/baz14","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocKd2iFU8YS4sV-rBJptuYSF8EHeQnm23N_dcXE1uON7_GMIlZg=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"This compiler check is worth keeping. Reviewer number 150 has seen enough lifetime bugs","datePublished":"2026-08-10T21:31:00.509Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/cSCZMZvt1#c-MPd6V0SeM","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Agustin Barrientos","url":"https://daily.dev/agustinbarrientos","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--5ayxQnqn--/f_auto/v1788281802/avatars/avatar_wQYYVe5Tbj0NJ7C7qPoa8?_a=BAMAMicg0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"The other thing these days is how well an llm writes code in the language of choice.\nLLMs are seemingly decent with Rust and getting more proficient given the body of code generated and available to train.\nZig for example is on the other end of the spectrum - best to handwrite everything it seems currently.","datePublished":"2026-08-11T11:27:13.148Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/cSCZMZvt1#c-C6cqSBAZ8","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Eleftherios Simotas","url":"https://daily.dev/eleftheriossimotas","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/22344661?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Another sh.t language. :(","datePublished":"2026-08-13T19:58:50.943Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/cSCZMZvt1#c-DtRppfRIW","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Stefan Jancar","url":"https://daily.dev/stefanjancar","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocKAshYn859c17GB4vapBmf9D2iioAJwpmE6enY7gORhI1CedQpo=s96-c"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/rust-is-the-future-of-linux-csczmzvt1#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does Greg Kroah-Hartman think Rust is the future of the Linux kernel?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux kernel stable branch maintainer, argues Rust helps solve the kernel's maintainer bottleneck: about 5,000 developers contribute code but only around 150 maintainers can review it. 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