Linus Torvalds 谈工作与生活、Rust 和他的 M2 MacBook Air
Linus Torvalds

> 
> 在 LPC 2022 大会上，Torvalds 和我有机会坐下来，再次谈论生活、Linux 和潜水。
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![](/data/attachment/album/202209/16/210719hrijwf2o1j5isj88.jpg)


**爱尔兰，都柏林**：我认识 Linus Torvalds 已经几十年了，但是自从全球疫情爆发以来，我们已经多年没有机会进行面对面的访谈了。终于，在 2022 年的 Linux Plumbers 大会上，这个世界顶级 Linux 开发者的年度聚会上，我们有机会再次面对面进行了交谈。


在这次会议之前，Torvalds 在荷属西印度群岛的博内尔岛潜水了六天。如果有选择的话，他说他"宁愿潜水也不愿去参加会议"。我们不都是这样吗？


Torvalds 还说，尽管他在 Linux 内核上工作了很多，但他不是工作狂。



> 
> 真的，我之所以还能年复一年地为之工作，是因为我可以离开它。但我不会离开很久，因为我会感到无聊。唯一让我觉得日子漫长，而且精疲力尽的时候是在一个合并周期开始的时候。即使如此，我还是尽量在我可以集中精力的合并的第一周做完所有主要的事情。
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如果你想知道谁是 Linux 内核真正的工作狂，Torvalds 建议你看看 Greg Kroah-Hartmann（GKH），他是 [Linux 稳定版内核](https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/stable-kernel-rules.html) 的维护者。“我不知道他是怎么做到的，”Torvalds 坦承，“我想他把很多事情都自动化了，但这是无休无止的，而且每周都要做。”


然而，全球疫情对 Linux 内核的开发几乎没有任何影响。当然，Torvalds 和许多顶级内核维护者一样，多年来一直在家里工作。一个大的变化是，“多年来，我们第一次召开了一场面对面的 Plumbers 和 [Linux 内核维护者峰会](https://events.linuxfoundation.org/linux-kernel-maintainer-summit/)”，这是一个由前 20 名内核维护者组成的圆桌会议。


Torvalds 说，另一个很大的不同是，那些以前没有在家工作的开发者发现，他们很大程度上喜欢在家工作。Torvalds 希望他们中的许多人能够继续这样做。


这并不是说没有任何变化。Torvalds 同意 Linux 内核开发者 Jonathan Corbet 的观点，他在当天早些时候在附近召开的欧洲开源峰会上说：“现在不再是孤独的 Linux 子系统维护者，而是团队在管理子系统，而且效果很好。” Torvalds 补充说：“有些子系统仍然由一个人管理，但这种情况越来越少。与其说是委员会，不如说是由三个人轮流组成的小组”。这就减轻了维护者的负担，正如 Corbet 所说，这有助于代码维护者“快乐更多，暴躁更少”。没有人愿意在试图让代码补丁通过时面对一个暴躁的代码维护者。


说到脾气暴躁，Torvalds 虽然不是 Rust 的超级粉丝，但他已经准备好看到 Rust 进入 Linux 内核了。



> 
> 我已经觉得我们会在这个版本（Linux 内核 6.0）中拥有它，但显然，这并没有发生。我不会打包票说它会进入 6.1 版本（10 月发布）。但是，它已经进行了足够长的时间，我们所差的就是临门一脚了，因为不合并它并没有什么好处。而且肯定会合并。当然，有些人仍然认为我们可能会遇到一些麻烦，但如果两年后有问题，我们可以在那时再解决。
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Rust 还没有完全进入的一个原因是，一些开发者担心需要让所有非标准的 Rust 扩展在 Linux 中工作。例如，在新的 [Rust Linux NVMe](https://www.phoronix.com/news/LPC-2022-Rust-Linux) 驱动中，需要对 Rust 进行 70 多项扩展才能使其工作。


但是，Torvalds 说，几十年来，我们一直在使用标准 C 的例外用法。“我一直很坚定地表示，这个领域的标准是垃圾。而我们要忽略这个标准，因为这个标准是错误的。因此，在 Rust 方面也将是如此。”


在他看来，更重要的部分是 Rust 编译器需要可靠和稳定。人们的一个问题是，[GCC Rust](https://github.com/Rust-GCC/gccrs) 肯定还不够可靠或稳定。所以实际上，现在要做 Linux Rust 的开发，你必须使用 Clang。但是，Torvalds 补充说，“[Clang](https://docs.rs/clang/latest/clang/) 确实可以工作，所以合并 Rust 应该对内核有好处，而不是伤害。”


这些天，当他在路上的时候，Torvalds 正在使用一台带有 M2 处理器的苹果 MacBook Air。在这台崭新的机器上，他运行的是 [Fedora Workstation 36](https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/download/)。他还不能向普通人推荐这个。因为没有针对 [ARM-64 M2 处理器](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/06/apple-unveils-m2-with-breakthrough-performance-and-capabilities/) 的 Fedora 移植版，所以他自己做了这些改造。目前，支持 M2 处理器的主要 Linux 发行版是 [Asahi Linux for Mac](https://asahilinux.org/)，但它使用了晦涩的 [Pacman](https://archlinux.org/pacman/) 软件包管理器。或者，正如 Torvalds 所说，“Pacman！？什么鬼！”但是，他能够迅速地搞定它，让 Fedora 出现在它上面。


当然，它还不完美。例如，这些代码还不支持 M2 FPU，所以 Torvalds 不能使用 3D 图形功能，但“我不需要游戏”。具有讽刺意味的是，这也意味着 GNOME 40 的一些图形效果，如屏幕调光，不能工作，但“我喜欢这种方式，它使显示更敏捷。我可能也会在我的其他机器上关闭这些效果”。


更加恼人的是，Chrome 还不能在这个平台上的 Linux 上运行。这并不是什么大问题，因为 Chromium 浏览器在上面运行得很好。除了，“我把琐碎的密码保存在 Chrome 密码管理器上，所以我必须用我的智能手机把它们转移过来。”


然而，对于他真正从事的工作，修补和编译 Linux 内核，M2 Air 工作得很好。即使只有 16GB 的内存和 256GB 的固态硬盘，它也能很好地工作。当然，它在他 [自制的 Linux 工作站](/article-12261-1.html) 上运行得更快，但 “我这次旅行只带了我的 Mac Air。这就是我需要的一切”。


Linux 软件和 Mac 硬件是天作之合。或者说，Torvalds 所做的搭配使他很高兴。




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via: <https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-rust-may-make-it-into-the-next-linux-kernel-after-all/>


作者：[Steven Vaughan-Nichols](https://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/steven-vaughan-nichols/) 译者：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](/article-15036-1.html) 荣誉推出


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# Linus Torvalds talks Rust on Linux, his work schedule and life with his M2 MacBook Air

![steven-vaughan-nichols](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/e27b3953df87b835a77deeeec01f311aa283a5ec/2022/08/05/e2171bd1-84f6-4ca8-9801-2abdeb61a365/steven-vaughan-nichols.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&frame=1&height=192&width=192)

![linus-torvalds.jpg](https://www.zdnet.com/a/img/resize/327316107de643a38715fec8ccf52f1ee8e29c48/2018/09/28/b38610a7-7ee3-4e2c-bd91-ae6869963086/linus-torvalds.jpg?auto=webp&width=1280)

**Dublin, Ireland:** I've known Linus Torvalds for decades, but since Covid hit, we haven't had a chance for a face-to-face interview in years. Finally, at 2022's [Linux Plumbers Conference](https://lpc.events/), the annual get-together of the world's top Linux developers, we had a chance to talk in person again.

Before the conference, Torvalds had spent six days scuba-diving at Bonaire, an island in the Dutch West Indies. Given the choice, he said he'd "rather be diving than going to conferences." Wouldn't we all?

Torvalds also said that, although he works a lot on the Linux kernel, he's no workaholic:

Really, the reason I can still do it year after year is I can walk away from it. But I don't walk away for long because I get bored. The only time I feel like I have long days and it gets exhausting is at the beginning of a merge. Even then, I try to do all the major stuff in the first week when I can focus.


### See also

If you want to know who the real workaholic of the Linux kernel is, Torvalds suggests you look at Greg Kroah-Hartmann, the [stable Linux kernel](https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/stable-kernel-rules.html) maintainer. "I don't know how he does it," Torvalds confided. "I think he's automating a lot of it, but it's unending, and he does it every week."

Covid, however, had little to no effect on Linux kernel development. Of course, Torvalds has been working from home for years as have many of the top kernel maintainers. The one big change is that for the "first time in years, we have a face-to-face Plumbers and [Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit](https://events.linuxfoundation.org/linux-kernel-maintainer-summit/)," a round table of the top 20 kernel maintainers.

The other big difference, said Torvalds, is the developers who hadn't been working at home found, by and large, that they liked working from home. Torvalds expects many of them to continue doing exactly that.

That isn't to say there haven't been any changes. Torvalds agreed with Linux kernel developer Jonathan Corbet, who earlier in the day at the nearby [Open Source Summit Europe](https://events.linuxfoundation.org/open-source-summit-europe/) had said that "Instead of lone Linux subsystem maintainers, teams are often now managing subsystems, and it's working well." Torvalds added, "Some subsystems are still being run by one person, but it's getting rare. It's not so much a committee as it tends to be a group of three people who take turns." This takes the load off maintainers, and, as Corbet puts it, helps code maintainers "be a lot happier and less grumpy in general." And no one wants to face a grumpy code maintainer when they're trying to get a code patch passed.

Speaking of grumpy, Torvalds, while not a huge Rust fan per se, is ready to see Rust make it into the Linux kernel:

I already thought we'd have it for this one (

[Linux kernel 6.0]), but clearly, that didn't happen. I'm not gonna say it will make it into 6.1 (Due out in October). But, it's been going on long enough that we just need to merge it because not merging it isn't helping anything. And it is going to happen. Sure, some people still think we might have trouble with it, but if there are problems two years down the road, we can fix them then.

One reason why Rust still hasn't quite made it in yet is some developers are concerned with all the non-standard Rust extensions needed to get it to work in Linux. For example, with the new [Rust Linux NVMe driver](https://www.phoronix.com/news/LPC-2022-Rust-Linux), more than 70 extensions needed to be made to Rust to get it working.

But, Torvalds said, we've been using exceptions to standard C for decades. "I've been very vocal on saying the standard in this area is crap. And we're going to ignore the standard because the standard is wrong. So the same is going to be true on the Rust side."

As far as he's concerned, the more important part is that the Rust compiler needs to be reliable and stable. One of the issues people have is that [GCC Rust](https://github.com/Rust-GCC/gccrs) is most definitely not reliable or stable yet. So practically speaking, to do Linux Rust work right now, you have to use [Clang](https://docs.rs/clang/latest/clang/). But, Torvalds added, "Clang does work, so merging Rust would probably help and not hurt the kernel."

These days, when he's on the road, Torvalds is using an [Apple MacBook Air with an M2 processor](https://apple.sjv.io/c/159047/435031/7613?&sharedId=zdnet&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fshop%2Fbuy-mac%2Fmacbook-air%2Fwith-m2-chip&subId1=subid_value). On this hot new machine, he runs [Fedora Workstation 36](https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/download/). He can't recommend this for mere mortals yet. There was no Fedora port for the [ARM-64 M2 processor](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/06/apple-unveils-m2-with-breakthrough-performance-and-capabilities/), so he did it himself. At the moment, the main Linux for M2 is [Asahi Linux for Mac](https://asahilinux.org/), which uses the obscure [Pacman package](https://archlinux.org/pacman/) manager. Or, as Torvalds put it, "Pacman!? What the hell!" But, he was able to quickly bring it to heel and get Fedora on it.

Of course, it's not perfect yet. For example, the code doesn't support the M2 FPU, so Torvalds can't do 3D graphics, but "I don't need games." Ironically, that also means some GNOME 40 graphical effects, such as the screen dimming, don't work, but "I like it that way, it makes the display more snappy. I may turn those off on my other machines as well."

A trifle more annoying is that Chrome doesn't run on Linux on this platform yet. That's not much of a problem since the Chromium web browser does just fine on it. Except, "I keep my trivial passwords on Chrome Password Manager, so I have to port them over with my smartphone."

However, for what he really does for a living -- patch and compile Linux kernels -- the M2 Air does just fine. Even with only 16 GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD it works well. Of course, it runs even faster on his [homebrew Linux workstation](https://www.zdnet.com/article/look-whats-inside-linus-torvalds-latest-linux-development-pc/), but "I only brought my Mac Air on this trip. That's all I need."

Linux software and Mac hardware are a match made in heaven. Or, a match made by Torvalds that makes him happy anyway.

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