Oxidizing KDE: How, why, and why not?
summary
KDE runs ~15 million lines of code across ~1,000 projects, mostly C++/Qt, and Rust currently appears as small, focused components (ad‑blocking, HTML/CSS parsing, a new rendering engine) rather than rewrites. Interop uses the CXX family (CXX, CXXQ/CXX cute, CXX KDE frameworks) and faces pitfalls: trivial relocation semantics, vtable authentication on some ABIs, generics/templates mismatch, async integration, and distro-friendly dependency and packaging gaps between Cargo and CMake. The practical path is new Rust modules with minimal, controlled C++ bridges.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (9)
- 0:00Introduction to KDE
- 1:07Integrating Rust into KDE
- 5:02Why consider Rust for KDE
- 8:44Technical approaches to interop
- 12:36Challenges in relocation
- 15:37Unsolved problems and roadmap
- 19:00Dependency and build management
- 23:20Build system integration
- 26:08Social challenges and closing
