devtools.fm: Developer Tools, Open Source, Software Development Glauber Costa - Forking SQLite and Building a Distributed Database with Turso
Feb 20, 2024
Glauber Costa, CEO of Turso and author of the libSQL fork of SQLite, shares his journey from Linux kernel contributor to database innovator. He discusses the limitations of SQLite that led to creating libSQL, emphasizing community collaboration. Glauber explores how Turso provides replication and operational features for distributed databases. He also delves into the future of SQL in database dominance and innovative integration of libSQL in browser environments, while sharing insights on design trade-offs in distributed systems.
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Linux Kernel Start Shaped His Approach
- Glauber began his career contributing to the Linux kernel and later joined Red Hat, which shaped his engineering worldview.
- That early kernel experience later influenced his willingness to fork SQLite and run a community-driven project.
Startup Pivot Led To Database Expertise
- Glauber and his co-founder Pekka joined a startup where the initial product failed and later pivoted to ScyllaDB, exposing them to databases.
- That pivot and long work on Scylla informed their decision to later found Turso and work on SQLite replication.
Fork Sparked Rapid Community Interest
- Glauber published a fork of SQLite during their previous product work and saw unexpected community interest quickly.
- The fork got 1,500 GitHub stars in five days, prompting them to consider becoming a database company.