Re: [RFC PATCH 00/11] Rust null block driver

From: Hannes Reinecke
Date: Fri May 05 2023 - 01:28:27 EST


On 5/4/23 20:36, Bart Van Assche wrote:
On 5/4/23 11:15, Andreas Hindborg wrote:
If it is still unclear to you why this effort was started, please do let
me know and I shall try to clarify further :)

It seems like I was too polite in my previous email. What I meant is that
rewriting code is useful if it provides a clear advantage to the users of
a driver. For null_blk, the users are kernel developers. The code that has
been posted is the start of a rewrite of the null_blk driver. The benefits
of this rewrite (making low-level memory errors less likely) do not outweigh
the risks that this effort will introduce functional or performance regressions.

I have to disagree here. While the null_blk driver in itself is certainly not _that_ useful, it does provide a good sounding board if all the design principles of the linux block layer can be adequately expressed in Rust.

And by posting this driver you just proved that, and we all have a better understanding what would be needed to convert old or create new drivers.

But I guess we'll have a longer discussion at LSF :-)

Cheers,

Hannes
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Dr. Hannes Reinecke Kernel Storage Architect
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