# Rust in Google with Lars Bergstrom

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rustacean-station/rust-in-google-with-lars-bergstrom
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rustacean-station/rust-in-google-with-lars-bergstrom.md
Podcast: [Rustacean Station](https://stenobird.com/podcast/rustacean-station)
Published: 2024-12-27T14:23:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rustacean-station.org/episode/lars-bergstrom/
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audio.rustacean-station.org/file/rustacean-station/2024-12-27-lars-bergstrom.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rustacean-station/episodes/rust-in-google-with-lars-bergstrom
Duration seconds: 2532

## Resource

Lars Bergstrom, Director of Engineering at Google, explains how Android is transitioning to Rust to mitigate security vulnerabilities. He shares strategies for driving language adoption within large-scale organizations without causing project failure.

## Highlights
- Main idea: Android's security strategy focuses on ensuring all new native code is written in memory-safe languages like Rust
- Practical takeaway: Successful adoption requires more than just a pitch; you must provide hands-on support for code reviews, architecture, and crate selection
- Failure mode: Rushing large-scale rewrites can lead to missed deadlines and permanent executive resistance to new technologies
- Strategic insight: Focus on the business value—reducing security vulnerabilities and increasing productivity—rather than the technical merits of the language alone
- Maintenance lesson: Large organizations must actively support the open-source ecosystem to prevent overwhelming small library maintainers with bug reports

## Topics

Rust, Android, Google, Software Engineering, Memory Safety, Open Source, Systems Programming, Cybersecurity

## Chapters
- 1:00 — Managing Android's Ecosystem: Lars discusses his role managing compilers, tools, and the massive dependency tree of the Android OS.
- 4:15 — The Challenge of Legacy Kernels: The difficulties of maintaining security across diverse hardware and older Linux kernel versions.
- 7:25 — Security via New Code: Why focusing on new code implementation provides the highest security ROI without requiring total rewrites.
- 20:00 — Driving Successful Adoption: How the Android security team integrates with other teams to ensure Rust projects succeed through expert guidance.
- 23:05 — The Risks of Failed Experiments: The importance of managing executive perception and avoiding 'sticky negative signals' from failed migrations.
- 26:10 — Comparing Systems Languages: A brief look at the landscape of systems programming languages and the trade-offs involved.
- 38:55 — Supporting Open Source: Google's approach to contributing back to the upstream libraries that Android relies upon.

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## Transcript

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