Considering first class integration for Cargo

Considering first class integration for Cargo

[Steve Fan]

Hello all,

Please consider supporting Cargo for pulling in external crates, as I
got some no-std based data structure crates on crates.io.

The idea is that we can separate the kernel part with the core
algorithm/data structure part such as declaring filesystem structure
and use nom for binary parsers to virtualize the read source (for
example read from block device).

Someone has a WIP integration for this:
https://github.com/Rust-for-Linux/linux/issues/865#issuecomment-1214148291

I tried upgrading it to the latest kernel but failed. Linker issues
are nasty and b*tchy.

It is such a PITA to copy all the needed crates and mark them as
`extern crate`...

In the future we can also use Cargo.toml to check for GPL compliance.
There's a license field in Cargo.toml so that we don't have to add a
huge GPL header every time.

Stefan

Re: Considering first class integration for Cargo

[Greg KH]

On Mon, Nov 06, 2023 at 05:55:50PM +0800, Steve Fan wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> Please consider supporting Cargo for pulling in external crates, as I
> got some no-std based data structure crates on crates.io.

What data structures do you need in the kernel that are not already
provided?

thanks,

greg k-h

Re: Considering first class integration for Cargo

[Miguel Ojeda]

Hi Steve,

On Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 10:56 AM Steve Fan <stevefan1999@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Please consider supporting Cargo for pulling in external crates, as I
> got some no-std based data structure crates on crates.io.

Please see https://rust-for-linux.com/third-party-crates.

> In the future we can also use Cargo.toml to check for GPL compliance.
> There's a license field in Cargo.toml so that we don't have to add a
> huge GPL header every time.

Which "huge GPL header" are you referring to? We do not have those in
Rust kernel code, unless you are referring to the SPDX License
Identifier.

Cheers,
Miguel

Re: Considering first class integration for Cargo

[Miguel Ojeda]

On Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 11:33 AM Steve Fan <stevefan1999@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Oh I think I have to insert the GPL headers in every source file? Just SPDX is fine? I'm just getting started with Rust in Linux so I'm not sure about the license rules here.

Please see https://docs.kernel.org/process/license-rules.html.

> I was thinking if I have a Cargo.toml to mark everything as GPL so the SPDX info is redundant anyway.

It would at least require changing the current tooling and rules ("The
Linux kernel requires the precise SPDX identifier in all source
files."), i.e. it would make those files an exceptional case.

In any case, even if we could do something like that, it is orthogonal to Cargo.

By the way, please take a look at
https://subspace.kernel.org/etiquette.html and
https://rust-for-linux.com/contact. Thanks!

Cheers,
Miguel