Initial Support for Rust in the Linux Kernel Is Finally Released
The 6.1 LTS version of the Linux kernel, which includes initial support for Rust, has been made available for general usage.
Linus Torvalds finally announced that the latest LTS version of the Linux kernel (version 6.1) includes the initial support for the Rust programming language that has been hyped of late. This, of course, comes on the heels of what Torvalds calls the "merge window from hell," thanks to the holidays and his pre-holiday travel.
On this, Torvalds announced he would be very strict with the merge window rules, saying "The rules are that the pull requests sent to me during the merge window should have been ready _before_ the merge window and have seen some time in linux-next. No last-minute batch of experimental new development that hasn't been seen by our test automation."
Of course, the big news for Linux 6.1 is the inclusion of experimental Rust support. It's important to know that this is very much still in the early phase of development, so the implications aren't nearly as game-changing as you might think. This is the very basic implementation of Rust in the kernel, so don't expect to find new and improved Rust-built drivers functioning within the kernel.
Much of the other work found in kernel 6.1 is dominated by drivers for media, Bluetooth, HID, GPU, and, more importantly, networking. Make sure to read the announcement to find out everything that's included with the latest LTS kernel, which should serve as a very important launch point for the addition of Rust drivers for Linux.
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