Tyr: A New Rust GPU Driver for the Linux Kernel
Talkat RustConf 2026 · on Thursday, 2026-09-10· at 15:45· Room 510bd | Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Palais des Congrès de Montréal·
summary
Rust-based Tyr implements a full Linux kernel Mali driver that runs a complete GNOME desktop and games on devices like Pixel and RK3588, claims performance parity with the existing C driver and conformance equal in downstream tests, and reaches major milestones: page-table management in 7.0, GPU memory allocation in 2025, DMA-fences landed days ago, and the CSF microcontroller booted in 7.3. The project shrinks kernel code to ~18k LOC versus ~120k in userland and redesigns job ownership so queues own jobs to prevent lifetime bugs.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:47How GPU drivers work
- 6:07User vs kernel space
- 13:55Where Mali GPUs are found
- 15:20Why Rust for kernel drivers
- 26:38Timeline of Rust GPU driver
- 31:35Current status and demos
- 34:51Q&A
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