February 23, 2026
License fights and Rusty nights
What it means that Ubuntu is using Rust
Ubuntu goes Rust: fans cheer, purists rage, and nerds debate what breaks
TLDR: Canonical is bringing Rust into Ubuntu’s everyday tools, signaling a mainstream moment. The comments split between excitement for safer software and fears about lost C fixes, non‑GPL licensing, and plugin stability, making this a high‑stakes shift for millions who rely on Ubuntu.
Ubuntu embracing Rust lit up the comments like a holiday tree. Rust is a modern programming language built to avoid common bugs and crashes, and Canonical’s Jon Seager pitched a visionary yet practical plan—classic “crossing the chasm” vibes. But the crowd didn’t cross together.
One camp was hyped: “Rust-based utilities just feel better,” said fans, imagining fewer mysteries and midnight crashes. The skeptics fired back with the strongest worry: you can’t just rebuild decades of hard-won bug fixes from the old C code and expect every weird edge case to work. As one summed it up: tried-and-true vs new hotness.
Then the license brawl broke out. A top comment didn’t care about Rust at all, but that some replacements aren’t GPL (an open-source license that requires derivatives to stay open). That set off fears Canonical could layer proprietary patches on top for enterprise customers. Cue memes like “GPL or GTFO” and jokes about “Rusty but crusty.”
The ultra-tech crowd added a spicy barrier: ABI stability (think plug-and-play rules for software pieces). Without safe dynamic linking, they say Rust won’t dethrone C in big, plugin-heavy systems. Others wondered if this push will spill into Linux drivers or even cars. One baffled newbie asked, “Did something happen?” and got the clapback: “Yeah—Ubuntu did.” The real battle here isn’t code; it’s trust, control, and who gets to shape your tools.
Key Points
- •Rust’s adoption status varies by domain; it has not uniformly “crossed the chasm.”
- •Amazon uses Rust extensively for data planes, resource‑aware agents, and low‑level device/robotics code, though some see it as overkill for average development.
- •Safety‑critical software remains cautious; industry is largely in wait‑and‑see mode despite some Rust‑based products, per Pete LeVasseur’s rust‑lang post.
- •“Reference customers” are essential to convince the early majority, aligning with the Technology Adoption Life Cycle framework.
- •Canonical’s Ubuntu adoption, presented by Jon Seager, aims to help Rust cross the user‑land Linux chasm with a visionary yet practical approach.