[Idea] Consider libcosmic with Rust for ProtonVPN's native Linux client

[iamkartiknayak]

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Hello ProtonVPN team,

I have a question regarding your Linux client. As of now, the native Linux client is developed using Python. While Python is great for rapid development, I was wondering if you would consider leveraging libcosmic and the Rust programming language for the ProtonVPN Linux client?

• Performance: Rust is a systems programming language that provides high performance, often comparable to C or C++. This could make the client more efficient, especially for users on lower-end devices.
• Security: Rust's ownership model ensures memory safety without the need for a garbage collector, reducing vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows and null pointer dereferences, which are crucial for a security-focused application like ProtonVPN.
• Integration with libcosmic: If ProtonVPN considers a deeper integration with Linux desktop environments like COSMIC, utilizing libcosmic could allow for better user experiences, such as seamless integration with desktop applets and native widgets.
• Adoption of Cosmic Desktop Environment: Cosmic DE is gaining traction beyond Pop!_OS, with major distributions like Arch, Fedora, NixOS & others are adding support for Cosmic. Adopting libcosmic would position ProtonVPN to natively support a growing user base of Cosmic Desktop users.
• Single Codebase: The design philosophy of Cosmic ensures cross-desktop compatibility, meaning applications built with libcosmic can be designed to work seamlessly across Linux, Windows, and macOS. This allows developers to maintain a single codebase for multiple platforms, reducing development effort and ensuring a consistent user experience

Could this be something the team might explore in the future? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the feasibility and potential roadmap for this.