Talks
FOSDEM 2026 — Rust Coreutils in Ubuntu
Sylvestre Ledru — February 1, 2026
Yes, we rewrote /bin/true in Rust — Here's what really happened. Which obscure behaviours scripts secretly depend on, how packaging Essential tools can turn one missing corner-case into a boot failure, and what we learned shipping Rust coreutils in Ubuntu.
FOSDEM 2025 — Rewriting the future of the Linux essential packages in Rust?
Sylvestre Ledru — February 1, 2025
The Linux ecosystem depends on core utilities written decades ago in C, but modern needs demand safer, more maintainable tools. This talk covers the uutils project's effort to reimagine essential Linux tools in Rust, including coreutils, findutils, and diffutils.
FOSDEM 2023 — Reimplementing the Coreutils in a modern language (Rust)
Sylvestre Ledru — February 5, 2023
How a community spawned to reimplement the coreutils in Rust, enabling achievements like booting Debian and compiling Firefox and the Linux kernel with these reimplementations.
Podcasts
Open Source Security Podcast — Rust coreutils with Sylvestre Ledru
March 2, 2026
Josh interviews Sylvestre Ledru about rewriting GNU coreutils in Rust — modernizing legacy code, attracting new contributors, the positive relationship with GNU coreutils developers, Ubuntu's adoption plans, and future directions.
FLOSS Weekly Episode 792 — Rust Coreutils
July 17, 2024
Jonathan Bennett and Jeff Massie interview Sylvestre Ledru about the Rust Coreutils project — why developers are reimplementing classic Unix utilities in Rust, the practical advantages, and the perspective of the original coreutils maintainers.
Videos
Rust at TU Delft — Rewriting the GNU Coreutils in Rust
Terts Diepraam
An overview of the uutils coreutils project, its goals, challenges, and the path toward replacing GNU coreutils in Linux distributions.