extern crate in local scope

[aleksander]

This code

fn main() {
    extern crate libc;
    println!("Hello, world!");
}

compiled without any errors or warnings, but it's not possible to use any libc's items inside main. Should compiler warn about wrong place for extern crate? Or this is legal to use extern crate in local scope?

[kennytm]

#24219 → rust-lang/rfcs#959.

[Mark-Simulacrum]

Perhaps we should give a diagnostic message here though.. tagging A-diagnostics.

[steveklabnik]

Triage: now that most code will not use extern crate, and given that it's been over two years with no other people running into this, I'm going to give this a close. If someone wanted to work up a diagnostic, I don't think it would be denied, but I don't think this is ever realistically going to be fixed. Thank you!