Following arguments on the Linux kernel mailing list the past few days over some Linux kernel maintainers being against the notion of Rust code in the mainline Linux kernel and trying to avoid it and very passionate views over the Linux kernel development process, Asahi Linux lead developer Hector Martin has removed himself from being an upstream maintainer of the ARM Apple code.
They kind of already do. The C used by the kernel team isn’t the exact same as what everyone else uses. Mainly because of the tooling they’ve built around it. I can’t remember specifics, but the tooling in place really helps out in that department.
Also, “memory safe C” is already a proposal for the C lang project.