[cpach]

Interesting point, but I don’t agree.

To begin with, there wasn’t really anything like Rust back in 2004, so it’s a very hypothetical scenario.

And since then, the world of tech has changed a lot. So I don’t thing it’s strange that Linux has also changed. All change is not good and that applies to Linux as well.

The Linux kernel has been a sprawling project from the start. AFAICT perfection and philosophical purity was never an aim of the project. This is sometimes a liability, but it’s also one of its greatest strengths.

For contrast, compare to FreeBSD. Much more coherent and from my POV more well-designed. But the pace of development is much much slower. Many FreeBSD users seem content with that. Which is fine! You can’t be all things to all people. But the user base is also a fraction of Linux’ user base.

So the fact that Linus is open to adding another language in addition to the 50-year old C language just seems to me like a good thing that can help to modernise Linux and Unix.