rust-lang / rust-lang/libc

Deprecate all Linux kernel APIs

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#1,391 3 comments 13 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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C-cleanup O-linux S-waiting-on-decision
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Libc currently only exposes a lot of Linux kernel APIs, but leaves doing so to other crates for other operating systems.

We probably should do the same that we do for MacOS and Windows, that is, have a different crate, e.g., linux, that's just like mach, winapi, etc. and that it is tested against different Linux kernel versions.

Once we have that in place, we can start deprecating kernel APIs from here, and recommend users to use other crates instead.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing how the libc crate currently exposes Linux kernel APIs and how the existing mach and winapi crates separate platform APIs. Define the proposed linux crate and its coverage across Linux kernel versions, then identify which APIs can be deprecated and what replacement guidance is needed. Done means the separation, version testing, and deprecation plan are agreed and implemented.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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