Rust has already become a major part of the build chain for countless open-source projects, even making its way into the Linux kernel. And now, another cornerstone of software development—Git itself—is getting ready to adopt it too.
A recent proposal on the Git mailing list has opened the door to one of the most significant technical shifts in the project’s history: making Rust a mandatory dependency starting with Git 3.0.
An RFC, submitted by Patrick Steinhardt, lays out a two-step plan. First, Rust support will be introduced into Git’s build system through Meson, ensuring the integration process is consistent across different environments.
Then, with the release of Git 3.0, Rust would become a hard requirement, meaning it would no longer be possible to build Git without it.
To prepare for this change, new CI jobs labeled as “breaking-changes” would be created. These jobs will help identify incompatibilities early, ensuring that Rust-based components don’t break existing workflows.
The RFC stresses a gradual transition, giving both developers and users time to adapt before Rust becomes unavoidable.
If accepted, the proposal would align Git with a broader industry trend: bringing memory safety and modern tooling into critical infrastructure. However, making Rust mandatory could also impact packaging, distribution, and contributors who currently depend on C-only environments.
For now, discussion is ongoing within the Git community. What is clear is that Git 3.0 is shaping up to be more than just another release, probably marking the beginning of a new era for the project’s codebase.
