[Corrado]

>"With the introduction of Rust to the base system, it may be desirable to oxidize certain components which have high security value in the system."

This is such a great way to phrase this activity; I really hope it catches on with other projects.

[nsajko]

I don't know what do you like about the phrasing, but it's not really friendly. The word "oxidize" used like that is clearly a Rust community slang, so it signals that the author identifies with the (a?) Rust community, but it also has the effect of alienating those who are not members of the subculture.

Apart from that, I find it strange that people are so brazen with the whole "rewrite stuff in Rust" agenda.

[alias_neo]

I'm not a member of the Rust community (yet), but there was no great leap to understand the oxidation "in-reference", it may very well be community slang, but the link between oxidation and rust in the English language is not at all misunderstood.

As for the agenda of re-write everything in Rust, I cannot comment; as a software engineer I love re-writing things in my new favourite language of the day, so my judgement is clouded.

[bluejekyll]

I read that comment not as "re-write everything in Rust", but more "rewrite a subset of components in Rust where it might help with security and resiliency".

Rust can certainly help with the latter, but very few projects will ever have the funding or time to achieve the former.

[zozbot234]

Well, they have to start somewhere. It makes sense that they would be picking the lowest-hanging fruit.

[Zababa]

> Apart from that, I find it strange that people are so brazen with the whole "rewrite stuff in Rust" agenda.

They used to, but these days they calmed down a lot, and most actively fight against the RIIR (Rewrite It In Rust) meme. I think part of it is because lots of people were exposed to low-level programming through Rust. I know that when I first started working with legacy/old code, I had the urge to rewrite everything. It took me some time to gain respect and trust in the code that was already running. On the other hand, sometimes my insights as a newcomer were valuable. It's a balance you have to strike between the new and the old, as with all things. Young people have the energy and new ideas, old people have the experience and stability. Both are needed. They'll sometimes clash against each other, but with time everyone will gain respect for the other party. I feel like it's what happened with the Rust community. These days it's less "rewrite everything in Rust!" and more "Rust is an option here. Does it makes sense? What are the alternatives?". The language is not even 10 years old at this point. Same thing for the community. They've already matured a lot.

[Waterluvian]

Do you mind explaining what it means to you and why you love it?

My guess is this means “help fuel the advancement of…” but I’m having a slow day.

I get that there’s also a pun there I think?

[kaladin-jasnah]

Not OP, but I think "oxidize" here would refer to... rewriting the components in Rust.

[djxfade]

If iron oxidizes, it turns in to rust

[hutzlibu]

And then the oxidized layer protects the rest of the iron.

[ClumsyPilot]

This is how weathering steel works, but for all other cases the instructions are to remove the oxidized layer and apply a protective coat of paint, because rust is typically pourous and provides no protection, but traps moisture.

Also stainless steel has an oxidised protective layer, but its transparent so we don't call it rust

[cogburnd02]

I'd assume it meant 'rewrite in rust.'

[bluejekyll]

It probably means different things to different people. Usually when I see the term "oxidize" it tends to mean rewrite critical parts of software, but not necessarily the entire thing (like swapping out the TLS library in a C implementation for one in Rust, but the rest of the C program remains the same).

This would be different from rewriting the entire program in Rust.

[alderz]

Metals get rust by an oxidation process.

[SV_BubbleTime]

I’m not Latin expert, but I think iron, or ferus metals are the only ones that “rust”. Raw aluminum starts oxidizing the moment air hits it, anodizing is specially oxidizing aluminum then dying it, and of course this is more true for metals like potassium that dull while you are looking at them, but I’ve never heard anyone say these metals “rust”, they oxidize.

[ithkuil]

The word "rust" has Germanic origins, with the meaning red/reddish.

Latin rubigo (rust) also derives from the word for the color red.

They may have a common ancestor (I don't know)

[SV_BubbleTime]

Good one, I just assumed Latin. You’re probably closer with Germanic.

Still, reddish, we’re likely back to ferrous metals.

[patcon]

I also think it's neat. My read of it was that they were saying it like "hardening at the surface", e.g., https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/surfa...

Though technically oxidization can either strengthen or weaken a surface, so it's not a perfect phrasing, if so

[jml7c5]

Incidentally, the inspiration for the name may be more due to rusts (the fungi) than to rust (oxidized iron). See: https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/27jvdt/internet_archa...

[boulos]

Do you specifically mean "oxidize"? If so, that's already the term. If not, did you mean the "high-security value" part?

Edit: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Oxidation is an example of the history of the term, though amusingly it doesn't show up on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_(programming_language)