A Rusty Odyssey: A Timeline of Rust in the DRM subsystem

The integration of Rust into the Linux Kernel has opened new avenues for enhancing safety and performance, particularly within the DRM subsystem. This initiative began gaining traction with early discussions and the construction of full-blown drivers, such as Asahi (Apple M1/M2), Nova (NVIDIA), Tyr (ARM Mali), and RVKMS.

This talk will explore the evolution of Rust initiatives within the DRM community, ighlighting key milestones and ongoing projects. We will dive into the leadership driving these efforts, providing insights into the nature of the different stakeholders involved.

Join us as we navigate the timeline of developments in the DRM subsystem towards Rust, showcasing how these advancements might be shaping the future of GPU driver development.

Maira CANAL

Maira CANAL

Igalia

Maíra Canal is a graphics kernel developer working at Igalia, an employee-owned Free Software Open Source consultancy. She spends most of her time working in the DRM subsystem, especially in the V3D driver, used in the Broadcom’s Raspberry Pi GPUs. As part of an Igalia Coding Experience project, she rewrote the VGEM DRM virtual driver in Rust together with some safe abstractions.