Tech giants come together to launch the Rust Foundation

Mozilla, the makers of the popular Firefox web browser, has banded together with some of the world's biggest tech giants to launch the Rust Foundation.

Spun around the increasingly popular open source programming language, Huawei, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have created joined the non-profit foundation as its founding members.

Rust began just over a decade ago in 2010 as a Mozilla side project to enhance Firefox, and soon became a favorite with developers. In fact, the language has been voted as the most loved language in Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey for the past five years. 

• We've put assembled a list of the best laptops for programming
• These are the best Linux distros for developers
• Start programming with one of these best Python courses

“Mozilla incubated Rust to build a better Firefox and contribute to a better Internet. In its new home with the Rust Foundation, Rust will have the room to grow into its own success, while continuing to amplify some of the core values that Mozilla shares with the Rust community,” remarked Mozilla’s Bobby Holley, who is one of the board members in the Rust Foundation.

Independent governance

While Rust originated at Mozilla, it is used by several companies, including Microsoft and AWS who financially support the language’s development. 

Rust has a vibrant community and has had its own governance model since 2015. Mozilla claims moving it to its own foundation is the next logical step in the evolution of the language. 

“Rust exists because of the efforts of countless people working together to make software better. At its core, the role of the Foundation is to empower and support those people to do their best work,” says Holley. 

According to the release, Mozilla has already transferred all trademark and infrastructure assets to the Rust Foundation. 

• Subscribe to Linux Format magazine for more Linux and open source goodness