[kwlug-disc] Ubuntu includes "coreutils" rewritten in Rust

[Chris Frey]

On Fri, Oct 10, 2025 at 07:51:05PM -0400, William Park via kwlug-disc wrote:
> According to Distrowatch, Ubuntu is now shipping "coreutils" package that
> has been rewritten in Rust.  Anyone using or learning Rust?

It's a recent phenomenon that I haven't seen with any other language.
Has anyone else?  It seems very particular to Rust and Rust fans.

The zealotry of Rust fans precludes the existence of any program
written in any other language.  "Have you considered rewriting it in
Rust?" being a common refrain.

It's like the GNU project, restarting the software world from scratch,
but instead of a legal cause, it is a language preference.

I much prefer when they fork the whole project, like they did here with
coreutils, rather than infiltrate an existing project, such as the kernel.
At least the choice remains with the end user then.

- Chris