Agree. As a dev I've had to pivot a dozen times in my career. If you're a dev you should be able to learn a new language fairly quickly, all the core elements are the same, just the vocabulary is a little different. Since nobody has "fixed" C to avoid these bugs, and we're not going to go as far as put Java or .Net in the kernel, then I think Rust is probably the best, most pragmatic solution we have right now.

Eh, these are highly skilled individuals that just don't like learning a new thing, no matter how useful. That attitude is a problem to be managed, but these people deserve a certain amount of respect. Anyone saying "suck it" or similar should get a grip.