IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

crustc: entirety of `rustc`, translated to C

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Skepticism about performance

“It is very unlikely that it would be faster.” — adastra22

The discussion repeatedly points out that beating the speed of the main Rust compiler (Rustc) is improbable.

2. Bootstrapping & trustworthy compilation

“This could be used within bootstrappable.org projects to make bootstrappability of Rust incredibly much easier…” — imustaskforhelp

“This was done with mrustc, which produced byte‑identical output.” — steveklabnik

Participants highlight the potential to use the transpiler in diverse‑double‑compiling experiments that verify a compiler’s output bit‑for‑bit, strengthening trust in the toolchain.

3. Interest in legacy/obscure hardware & general enthusiasm

“The primary goal of this is support for old/obscure hardware with no LLVM/GCC support.” — cadwhisker

“I heartily approve of this project. Kudos.” — groos

The community is excited by the prospect of targeting platforms that lack modern compiler support and appreciates the novelty of rewriting Rust in C.

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

[Rust2C Cloud – On‑Demand Cross‑Compilation Service]

Summary

  • Delivers a SaaS that compiles Rust code to C for legacy or unsupported platforms using a high‑performance transpiler.
  • Solves the “no‑Rust‑compiler on old hardware” problem while guaranteeing deterministic outputs.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Embedded developers, hobbyists targeting legacy systems, bootstrapping projects
Core Feature Cloud API that accepts Rust source, runs crustc transpilation, returns C code or compiled binary
Tech Stack Backend: Go + Docker; Transpiler: crustc; Frontend: React; Storage: S3
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: pay‑per‑compile (tiered pricing, free tier up to 10 compiles/month)

Notes

  • HN commenters asked “How fast is it compared to rustc?” – users will love a service that answers performance questions.
  • Demand for reproducible builds aligns with Diverse Double‑Compiling interest; the service can provide verified hashes.

[Deterministic Rust Bootstrapping Kit]

Summary

  • Provides an open‑source CLI that automates Diverse Double‑Compiling (DDC) using crustc to verify Rust compiler correctness across builds.
  • Addresses trust and verification concerns highlighted by HN users discussing Thompson’s Trusting Trust.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Security researchers, language designers, bootstrapping enthusiasts
Core Feature Takes a Rust source tree, compiles it with crustc, then uses the resulting compiler to rebuild the source, comparing outputs for bit‑wise equality
Tech Stack Rust CLI, crustc transpiler, GCC/LLVM toolchain, SHA‑256 verification scripts
Difficulty High
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Directly references the HN thread: “I desperately want to know more” and “This could be used within bootstrappable.org”.
  • Generates discussion‑worthy reproducible‑build reports that can be shared on Hacker News.

[Legacy Hardware Rust Toolchain Builder]

Summary

  • A packaged Docker image that bundles crustc, a minimal C toolchain, and a CI pipeline to target obsolete CPUs lacking LLVM/GCC support.
  • Enables developers to compile modern Rust applications for niche embedded or retro platforms.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Embedded engineers, retro‑computing hobbyists, academic researchers
Core Feature One‑click environment that downloads appropriate crustc version, builds C code, and produces binaries for custom targets
Tech Stack Docker, rustc (native), crustc, GNU toolchain (C89), Makefiles
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: subscription for curated target libraries and support updates

Notes

  • Commenters mentioned “ancient mainframe targets” and “PP​C Mac OS X where LLVM isn’t supported” – this tool directly resolves those pain points.
  • Offers a concrete utility for the “support for old/obscure hardware with no LLVM/GCC support” need expressed in the discussion.

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