How is he sympathetic to the cause? He isn’t. The original article gave the project a thumbs down and so does this one… only this time he is here to admit defeat on behalf of the project because of “burnout”.
All the praise is just nerdstroking to soften the kernel of the argument that they are working on the wrong thing.
I am sympathetic to the cause. I respect the Linux project as a whole forming a consensus on the right direction for the kernel and I respect the right of the Rust developers to participate in the consensus-making process and advocate for what they believe is the right direction -- and put in the work to get there. I can hold this view and disagree with their opinion at the same time. I celebrate the difficult technical and political work they're doing to advance their cause, and I respect the hell out of that -- the fact that I would make different choices doesn't contradict this in any way.
The fact of the matter is that politics was always going to be difficult, and for all of the respect and admiration I have for the Rust-for-Linux team -- which I do have, thank you -- I am equally sympathetic to the kernel hackers who didn't ask for this project on their doorstep, and for their own needs to be accommodated. I condemn the toxicity that has bubbled up in this process, from C hackers and Rust hackers alike, but even absent that toxicity I think that the political challenges of Rust-for-Linux are enormous and distract from the fundamental work of the project.
People have burnt out and quit the project, and you cannot erase their experience when it questions the viability of the project. I'm offering them compassion and a different path that might celebrate their work without leading to burnout. People having burnt out and quitting the project is a historical fact, and not my fault, even if I'm the easy polemic for you to pin the blame on. I think it'd be a fucking shame if they quit pursing their passions for OS development in Rust over it and I've said as much and that's more than I can say for you and everyone else filling my messages with personal attacks and bad faith reading of everything I have to say.
I'd rather fix the abuse (the cause of the particular burnout), because it impacts not only the Rust developers, but all current and future contributors, and indirectly us users as well.
> and that's more than I can say for you and everyone else filling my messages with personal attacks and bad faith reading of everything I have to say.
In a metaphorical sense… since HN is not your inbox and this is not your submission.
All the praise is just nerdstroking to soften the kernel of the argument that they are working on the wrong thing.