Rust’s Downfall: From Rising Star to Rejected by Major Projects

submited by

Style Pass

2025-01-17 22:30:04

Rust, once celebrated as a game-changer in systems programming, has found itself facing a wave of criticism following a string of high-profile setbacks. Known for its focus on safety — particularly in concurrency — Rust supports multiple paradigms, including functional, imperative, and generic programming. Its syntax is reminiscent of C and C++, making it accessible yet powerful.

However, recent events have cast a shadow over Rust’s momentum. In late December, Daniel Stenberg, the creator of the renowned open-source project curl, announced the discontinuation of support for the Rust-based Hyper HTTP backend, along with the complete removal of related code. This decision has sparked widespread discussion within the developer community.

Stenberg began exploring the integration of a Rust-based HTTP backend for curl back in 2020. The goal was to leverage Rust’s memory safety to offer a more secure alternative to the native HTTP implementation used by curl/libcurl. This ambitious initiative was supported by ISRG, the organization behind Let’s Encrypt…