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Speaking at GCP Next 2026

I will be speaking at the GCP Next next month in Las Vegas, NV. My colleague Keith Chen and I will present on GCP’s latest Telemetry management solutions, with OpenTelemetry at the center. You can learn more about the session…

Native Linux packages for rqlite

rqlite is a lightweight, open-source, distributed relational database built on SQLite and Raft. Starting with v9.4.1 rqlite now ships native Linux packages (.deb and .rpm) for easier installation and upgrades. Both amd64 and arm64 packages are available.

The source code was the moat. But not anymore

Last week I started using some of the new coding agents properly. Not in a careful, experimental way, but properly — for three days on rqlite. Claude Code. Copilot CLI. Tools I had yet to fully integrate into how I…

Discovering git worktrees

While working with Claude Code, I quickly needed it to operate on multiple versions of the rqlite codebase at the same time. Cloning the repository repeatedly would have worked, but it felt wasteful.

Agentic coding with Claude and Copilot

After many months of direct ChatGPT use, I’ve finally started coding with the help of Copilot and Claude Code. It’s definitely an intriguing experience. The biggest difference so far? I’m going to hit my Claude Code Pro limits pretty quickly,…

Why talking to LLMs has improved my thinking

I’ve been surprised by – and enjoy – one aspect of using large language models more than any other. They often put into words things I have long understood, but could not write down clearly. When that happens, it feels…

Common misunderstandings about large software companies

I sometimes read commentary about large software companies and notice a recurring pattern. People correctly identify real characteristics of large organizations, criticize them, but show little appreciation for why those characteristics exist in the first place.

rqlite images now available on GitHub Container Registry

rqlite is a lightweight, open-source distributed relational database implemented in Go, and which uses SQLite as its storage engine. rqlite container images are now mirrored to GitHub Container Registry (GHCR). Images on Docker Hub and GHCR carry the same tags and digests; you can…

rqlite reaches 17,000 stars on GitHub

rqlite is a lightweight, open-source distributed relational database implemented in Go, and which uses SQLite as its storage engine. It has reached a new milestone in the open-source community by surpassing 17,000 stars on GitHub. Thanks to everyone for the ongoing support.

Driving Open Standards in Cloud Observability

My teams recently delivered support for the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) into Google Cloud Observability. This marks a significant step toward open, vendor-neutral observability. By adopting OTLP, customers gain interoperability across tools, simpler data pipelines, and a future-proof path as the…

On the way to rqlite 9.0

rqlite is a lightweight, open-source, distributed relational database written in Go, which uses SQLite as its storage engine. Development for the 9.0 release has started, and should be an important release. The main goals for 9.0 include: Change Data Capture…

Consistency Over Availability: How rqlite handles the CAP Theorem

rqlite is a lightweight, user-friendly, open-source, distributed relational database. It’s written in Go and uses SQLite as its storage engine. When it comes to distributed systems the CAP theorem is an essential concept. It states that it’s impossible for a distributed database to simultaneously provide…

The Developer’s Manifesto for the Age of LLMs

We built the old software systems by hand. Line by line. Module by module. That era is ending. Something profound is happening. For the first time in the history of software, we are not the only entities capable of understanding…

rqlite development: the Agents are here

rqlite  is a lightweight, open-source, distributed relational database written in Go. It uses SQLite as its storage engine and Raft for consensus. I’ve been developing rqlite for about ten years, and until recently, the workflow hadn’t changed much. I write the code. Others contribute here…

New JDBC driver for rqlite

rqlite is a lightweight, user-friendly, open-source, distributed relational database. It’s written in Go and uses SQLite as its storage engine. Thanks to Jesus Zazueta there is a new JDBC driver for rqlite. Specifically it’s a Type 4 driver, which means it communicates directly with the…