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by ploxiln 16 days ago
I think it's a reaction to many simpler advocates of Rust saying "it's unsafe and irresponsible of you to not use Rust, you can't write software in C or C++ or Zig (or Go?) and have memory unsafety and put your users at risk, it's not safe, you have to use Rust to be safe".

Freakin' safety. I like doing lots of unsafe things in life: rock climbing without gear (short bouldering sections on hiking trails), bicycling and skateboarding without a helmet, etc. I developed pretty good skills in all these things, and programming C too. What kind of life would be worth living with enforced perfect safety? Without developing skill in life's many un-safe activities?

So people want to emphasize that, if they shouldn't use non-Rust languages because their safety can't be guaranteed, well your safety using Rust isn't absolute, either. So you can't tell me I must use Rust, or the Rust rewrite of my favorite tools, to "be safe".

Do you recall the early rust web framework, that used a lot of "unsafe" "inappropriately" and had some vulnerabilities ... actix web? ... reminds me of the bun-in-zig situation, kinda makes the language's PR situation more complicated and tricky.

1 comments

There's a material difference on one taking risks for oneself and one taking risks where the brunt of the consequences fall on others.
You mean like driving a car?
I don't think using an example that includes licensing, plenty of regulations governing drivers, the cars themselves and the built environment, enforcement, and plenty of research on the impact of passive infrastructure to make things safer (bollards, daylighting, raised pedestrian intersections, curbs, traffic lights, etc.) makes the case you seem to be trying to make.
Yep: there's a difference between driving a car in traffic and driving a car in a rally or in an endurance race. There will always be some rules and regulations unless you're on your own privately owned race track with no one else on there, but the regulations can differ greatly depending on the situation.