Changelog Master Feed Voices of Oxide (Changelog Interviews #659)
Sep 26, 2025
Cliff Biffle, a firmware engineer behind Oxide's open-source OS Hubris, dives into the early power-up process and why Rust was a game-changer for firmware development. Dave Pacheco, lead on Oxide’s Update project, discusses the two-year effort to create a non-disruptive update system and the complexities of bandwidth and air-gaps. Designer Ben Leonard shares insights on balancing creative branding with product design, highlighting Oxide's vintage-modern aesthetic. Together, they reveal the unique culture at Oxide, shaped by innovation and collaboration.
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Boot-Level Firmware Ownership
- Cliff describes owning low-level firmware work from power-on to fans and power management.
- He built initial PCBs himself as cheap prototypes before hiring electrical engineers.
Writing First Builds Consensus
- Oxide's heavy writing culture and living docs reduce interview time and onboard future engineers.
- Cliff says prototypes start work, then writing builds consensus and serves as future documentation.
Rust Journey From Firmware Needs
- Cliff found Rust while doing firmware at Google because C made team correctness costly.
- He migrated Oxide's firmware stack to Rust and values its compile-time guarantees over alternatives like Go.