The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source Curl is a full-time job (and turns 23) (Interview)
Apr 12, 2021
Daniel Stenberg, the creator and primary maintainer of cURL, shares insights from his 23-year journey with this essential command-line tool. He discusses the evolution of cURL from a hobby project to a professional commitment. Expect humorous anecdotes about tech misunderstandings and revelations about the challenges of adopting HTTP/3. Daniel also touches on integrating newer programming languages like Rust for improved security. With billions of users relying on cURL, he emphasizes the importance of community feedback and user interaction in the open-source world.
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Curl's Humble Beginnings
- In 1998, the future of HTTP and its widespread use for APIs and REST was uncertain.
- Curl's initial purpose was humble, downloading currency rates for an IRC bot.
Rust vs. C in Curl
- While Rust is promising for safer internet infrastructure, full transition will be slow.
- Curl's C implementation remains valuable, supporting platforms without Rust.
HTTP/3: Potential and Challenges
- HTTP/3, built on QUIC, offers potential latency and performance improvements, but deployment will be complex.
- Widespread adoption hinges on factors like OpenSSL's support for new TLS APIs.