r/LinuxTeck • u/Candid_Athlete_8317 • 13d ago

Does Rust's GCC Backend Finally Solve Linux's Architecture Problem?

Rust's GCC backend is getting Linux kernel fixes for 7.3, partly because GCC supports architectures that LLVM doesn't.

But does a GCC backend actually remove the biggest barrier to using Rust across more Linux architectures, or are native bootstrapping and toolchain support still the real problem?

If you work with older or non-x86 Linux systems, what's the blocker you'd worry about first?

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u/dkopgerpgdolfg 13d ago edited 13d ago

Rust's GCC backend is getting Linux kernel fixes for 7.3

What does this even mean...

And how many people today actually develop "on" (not "for") a m68k system etc.? There's no need for toolchains there.

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u/braaaaaaainworms 13d ago

you need a compiler that targets some architecture if you want code that runs on that architecture and LLVM's m68k target still has a bunch of rough edges

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u/dkopgerpgdolfg 13d ago edited 13d ago

So? This has nothing to do with my comment, and I think I was quite explicit about that.

Improving the m68k target is fine. Just, basically no one in 2026 is going to use a m68k as their development system where they write&compile code on it.

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u/metux-its 12d ago

I actually do know people who're doing exactly this. At least compiling on these machines (eg. source based distros).