Linux

48364 readers

1314 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

AgreeableLandscape@lemmy.ml

nooter692@lemmy.ml

MarcellusDrum@lemmy.ml

cypherpunks@lemmy.ml

cyclohexane@lemmy.ml

d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz

166

Are there any things in Linux that need to be started over from scratch? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 7 months ago by sepulcher@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.ml

268 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm curious how software can be created and evolve over time. I'm afraid that at some point, we'll realize there are issues with the software we're using that can only be remedied by massive changes or a complete rewrite.

Are there any instances of this happening? Where something is designed with a flaw that doesn't get realized until much later, necessitating scrapping the whole thing and starting from scratch?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] nayminlwin@lemmy.ml 16 points 7 months ago (1 children)

There's already a lot of people rewriting stuff in Rust and Zig.

[–] KryptonNerd@slrpnk.net 8 points 7 months ago (2 children)

What are the advantages of Zig? I've seen lots of people talking about it, but I'm not sure I understand what it supposedly does better.

[–] lemming934@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 7 months ago

The goal of the zig language is to allow people to write optimal software in a simple and explicit language.

It's advantage over c is that they improved some features to make things easier to read and write. For example, arrays have a length and don't decay to pointers, defer, no preprocessor macros, no makefile, first class testing support, first class error handling, type inference, large standard library. I have found zig far easier to learn than c, (dispite the fact that zig is still evolving and there are less learning resources than c)

It's advantage over rust is that it's simpler. Ive never played around with rust, but people have said that the language is more complex than zig. Here's an article the zig people wrote about this: https://ziglang.org/learn/why_zig_rust_d_cpp/

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 4 points 7 months ago

Tiny learning curve, easy to refactor existing projects