Hector Martin, the leading developer of the ASAHI Linux project, officially announced his departure from the project. In his statement, he cited professional burnout, pressure from users, and a recent dispute with Linus Torvaldes regarding the integration of the Rust language into the Linux kernel.
In explaining his decision, Martin partially attributed the lack of support to the leader of the Linux community. He mentioned a situation where his criticism of a kernel maintainer for pulling work on Rust drivers was dismissed by Torvalds as “social agitation.” This incident led Martin to leave his position in the Linux kernel support for Apple Arm.
Disagreements over the use of Rust in the Linux kernel surfaced due to the mixed response from a leading developer, Christophe Helvig, who did not back the proposed Rust abstractions of the drivers, sparking heated debates. Martin called on Torvalds to intervene and make a final decision, but was instead publicly criticized for his communication style, with Torvalds affirming the maintainers’ autonomy in decision-making.
“I couldn’t just stand by and watch injustice happen. When a maintainer abused his position to block Rust in Linux, I spoke up. The response that followed in the community was the final straw,” Martin expressed.
He emphasized the risk the Linux community faces without support from major players. Many developers increasingly encounter abuse of power, as individual maintainers can block progress without consequences. Martin highlighted the departure of Vedson Almeida Filo, a former Microsoft engineer and key Rust developer for Linux, who left the project in August last year.
Torvalds has a history of blunt communication. His harsh critique of a Google developer’s code as “garbage” last year sparked discussions about burnout among developers, a pressing issue in the Open Source community.
Pressure, lack of compensation, and a toxic environment contribute to the departure of key contributors from significant projects. According to data, the rate of Open Source project updates significantly declined since 2020, with over 300,000 projects slowing down or ceasing development by 2024.
However, financial constraints are just part of the issue. Despite reducing the development time allocated to the kernel, Martin still faced overwhelming burdens,