Glauber Costa, CEO of Turso and an expert in database development, dives into the bold initiative of rewriting SQLite from scratch. He discusses the technical motivations behind this project and how deterministic simulation testing enhances reliability. Glauber also reflects on the journey of transitioning to an open contribution model, the challenges of forking SQLite, and the creation of Turso Cloud. Along the way, he shares personal anecdotes about adjusting to life in Texas, making for an engaging blend of tech talk and human experience.
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Glauber’s First SQLite Moment
Glauber Costa first used SQLite in 2004 and loved its simplicity.
That early experience drove his long-term focus on lightweight databases.
insights INSIGHT
SQLite’s Closed Contribution Barrier
Glauber Costa emphasizes SQLite's closed community and that they "don't accept contributions."
This social model prevents external developers from shaping core behavior.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Fork When Upstream Blocks Change
Do fork the project when upstream refuses contributions, as Glauber Costa did with LibSQL.
A public fork unlocks community-driven extensions without upstream permission.
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Chapters: 00:00 - Intro to guest Glauber Costa 00:58 - Glauber's background and path to databases 02:23 - Moving to Texas and life changes 05:32 - The origin story of Turso 07:55 - Why fork SQLite in the first place? 10:28 - SQLite’s closed contribution model 12:00 - Launching libSQL as an open contribution fork 13:43 - Building Turso Cloud for serverless SQLite 14:57 - Limitations of forking SQLite 17:00 - Deciding to rewrite SQLite from scratch 19:08 - Branding mistakes and naming decisions 22:29 - Differentiating Turso (the database) from Turso Cloud 24:00 - Technical barriers that led to the rewrite 28:00 - Why libSQL plateaued for deeper improvements 30:14 - Big business partner request leads to deeper rethink 31:23 - The rewrite begins 33:36 - Early community traction and GitHub stars 35:00 - Hiring contributors from the community 36:58 - Reigniting the original vision 39:40 - Turso’s core business thesis 42:00 - Fully pivoting the company around the rewrite 45:16 - How GitHub contributors signal business alignment 47:10 - SQLite’s rock-solid rep and test suite challenges 49:00 - The magic of deterministic simulation testing 53:00 - How the simulator injects and replays IO failures 56:00 - The role of property-based testing 58:54 - Offering cash for bugs that break data integrity 1:01:05 - Deterministic testing vs traditional testing 1:03:44 - What it took to release Turso Alpha 1:05:50 - Encouraging contributors with real incentives 1:07:50 - How to get involved and contribute 1:20:00 - Upcoming roadmap: indexes, CDC, schema changes 1:23:40 - Final thoughts and where to find Turso
Database School 
