Netstack.FM Podcast
A podcast about networking, Rust, and everything in between. Join us as we explore the stack: from protocols and packet flows to the people and projects building the modern internet, all through the lens of Rust. Featuring deep dives, crate spotlights, and expert interviews.
If you're into systems programming, networking theory, or the Rust ecosystem, you are in the right place.
In this episode our guest is Bruno Dal Bo Silva, Staff Software Engineer at Google. We dive into his path into networking and Rust, and the story behind netstack3, the Rust-based networking stack built for Google’s Fuchsia operating system. We cover its origins from the Go-based netstack, why Rust was chosen, and the challenges of implementing a full range of protocols — from TCP and UDP with their POSIX socket API to the many less-visible but essential pieces like ARP, ICMP, IPv6, DHCP, and more. We hope you brought a bowl as you're in for a juicy letter soup with this one. Bruno also shares insights on where he sees the future of netstack3 — including its potential beyond Google.
In this episode, our guest is Bruno Dal Bo Silva, Staff Software Engineer at Google. We dive into his journey from embedded systems and Bluetooth development to building netstack3—the Rust-based networking stack powering Google’s Fuchsia OS.
Bruno walks us through his early days in firmware and digital signal processing, his transition into networking at Google, and how he fell in love with Rust. We unpack the evolution from netstack1 to netstack2 (Go-based, from gVisor) and finally netstack3 in Rust, discussing its architectural benefits, memory determinism, and the microkernel design of Fuchsia.
We explore the life of a packet in Fuchsia, from Ethernet drivers to ARP,
IPv4/IPv6, TCP, and UDP. Bruno explains the challenges of implementing
POSIX compatibility in user space, the design of the async runtime, and
how Fuchsia’s fuchsia_async runtime compares to Tokio.
The conversation also touches on IPv6 auto-configuration (SLAAC),
DHCPv6, neighbor discovery, and how protocols like QUIC and Happy Eyeballs
fit into the evolving landscape of modern networking. Bruno shares his
perspective on what it would take to publish netstack3 on
crates.io and why broader community use could make the stack
even more robust.
Learn more:
A conversation with Dirkjan Ochtman, member of the Rustls core team and long-time open source contributor. We talk about Dirkjan’s journey through the FOSS ecosystem, the evolution of Rustls, and the many layers of meaning behind safety in the context of Rustls. We also touch on HickoryDNS and other projects along the way such as instant ACME.
In this episode, we go through Dirkjan's extensive experience in software development, particularly focusing on Rust, TLS, and QUIC protocols.
We explore Dirkjan his journey working on QUIC implementations to his contributions to Rust TLS and Hickory DNS. The conversation also delves into the ACME protocol and the Instant Domain Search project.
Dirkjan shares insights on the future of Rustls and the importance of community support in open-source projects.
Learn more:
A conversation with Daniel Stenberg, creator and maintainer of
curl, one of the most widely used networking tools
on the internet. We talk about Daniel’s journey through decades
of protocol work, the story of curl, what keeps him
going, and how he balances open source with real life.
In this episode of netstack.fm, Glen speaks with Daniel Stenberg, the creator and maintainer of Curl, one of the most widely used networking tools on the internet.
They discuss Daniel's journey into programming and networking, the evolution of Curl from a simple tool to a comprehensive solution supporting multiple protocols, and the challenges of maintaining such a large open-source project.
Daniel shares insights on the importance of community involvement, the complexities of debugging across various platforms, and his reflections on a 30-year journey with Curl.
The conversation highlights the significance of open-source contributions and the future of Curl as a project.
Learn more:
A conversation with Carl Lerche, creator and maintainer of
Tokio, a widely used async runtime in Rust, and the
only runtime used and supported by Rama. We talk about Carl’s
journey into Rust, how and why he started Tokio, how the project
has evolved over the years, where it is headed next, and what to
expect from the upcoming Tokio Conference.
In this episode of Netstack.fm, Glen speaks with Carl Lerche, the creator and maintainer of the Tokio Runtime, about his journey into technology, the evolution of programming languages, and the impact of Rust on the software development landscape. They discuss the rise of async programming, the development of networking libraries, and the future of Rust in infrastructure.
Carl shares insights on the creation of the Bytes crate, the implications of io_uring, and his role at Amazon. The conversation also touches on the upcoming Tokio conference and the introduction of Toasty, a new query engine for Rust.
Learn more:
Glen interviews Delaney Gillilan, creator of DataStar, a framework for building real-time collaborative web applications. The conversation explores hypermedia, SSE, simplicity in programming, and how Datastar enables efficient real-time interactivity.
In this episode, Glen interviews Delaney, the creator of DataStar, a lightweight framework designed for building real-time collaborative web applications. Delaney shares his journey from being a 3D artist to a developer, emphasizing the importance of hypermedia and real-time visualization.
The conversation delves into the efficiency of DataStar, its use of Server-Sent Events (SSE), and the framework's potential for collaborative web experiences. Delaney also discusses the challenges of WebSockets and introduces future projects like DarkStar, aimed at enhancing networking capabilities.
In this conversation, Delaney discusses the intricacies of DataStar, a real-time system for handling large volumes of messages. He emphasizes the importance of simplicity in programming, the significance of measuring performance, and the role of abstraction in software development.
Delaney also explains the core functions of DataStar, including patch elements and signals, and how they facilitate real-time interactivity. The discussion touches on offline support, the growth of the DataStar community, and the non-profit model that supports its development. Delaney encourages developers to engage with the community and emphasizes the importance of building solutions to real problems.
Learn more about Datastar and Hypermedia:
A conversation with Chris Batterbee, co-founder of Metoro, about observability, eBPF, OpenTelemetry, and building a platform to simplify instrumentation in Kubernetes environments.
In this conversation, Chris Batterbee, co-founder of Metoro, discusses the importance of observability in modern software systems, particularly in Kubernetes environments. He explains how Metoro leverages eBPF technology to simplify observability by automatically instrumenting applications.
The discussion also covers the integration of OpenTelemetry, the challenges faced by developers in implementing observability, and the potential of AI in diagnosing issues. Chris shares insights from his experience with Y Combinator and the competitive landscape of observability tools, emphasizing the unique position of Metoro in the market.
Learn more about OpenTelemetry, eBPF and Metoro:
Glen interviews Sean McArthur, creator and maintainer of the Hyper ecosystem. They discuss Sean's journey in software engineering, the evolution of Rust and asynchronous programming, and the growth of Hyper from its inception at Mozilla to its current status in the web development landscape.
In this episode, Glen interviews Sean McArthur, the creator and maintainer of the Hyper ecosystem. They discuss Sean's journey in software engineering, the evolution of Rust and asynchronous programming, and the growth of Hyper from its inception at Mozilla to its current status in the web development landscape.
Sean shares insights on the creation of
hyper, hyper-util,
http, headers, the Warp
framework, and the challenges of integrating HTTP/3 and
QUIC. The conversation also touches on collaboration
with cURL, the FFI layer, and Sean's aspirations for the
future of Hyper and the broader ecosystem.
Learn more about Sean McArthur, Hyper and Warp:
In our debut we introduce the show and share what is to come. You will hear how Netstack.FM came to life and how the community can help shape its future.
In the inaugural episode of NetStack FM, hosts Elizabeth and Glen introduce themselves and the purpose of the podcast, which is to explore the intersection of protocols and people in the tech industry. Glen shares his personal journey into technology, discussing his background in software development, gaming, and networking.
The conversation highlights the challenges and learning experiences that shaped his careers, leading to the creation of Rama, a modular framework for building network services.
The episode concludes with a preview of upcoming guests and topics, emphasizing the podcast's goal to educate and engage listeners in the world of networking and Rust.
Here is a look at what is coming up on Netstack.FM. We usually release new episodes weekly. Dates and guests are subject to change. We keep this page updated as things evolve.
A conversation with Lucio Franco, a prolific contributor and maintainer of tower, tokio and hyper(ium). In this episode we will talk about Lucio's journey, an introduction to GRPC and Tonic, a GRPC implementation in Rust. We will also touch on the future of some of these ecosystems and where it all might be heading next.
A conversation with Joshua Liebow-Feeser, the developer behind netstack3 and the creator of zerocopy, a crate that makes zero-cost memory manipulation effortless. Originally built for Fuchsia, zerocopy is now used by over 400 crates on crates.io, with nearly 300 million downloads.
We’ll explore the origins of Fuchsia, the creation and purpose of zerocopy, how it works, and why you might want to use it. And of course, we’ll get to know Joshua and his journey so far.
A conversation with Max Inden, Staff Software Engineer at Mozilla, about modernizing Firefox’s networking stack in Rust. We’ll cover his work on the QUIC and HTTP/3 stack — improving UDP I/O, congestion control, and overall performance — and why QUIC matters as a fast, encrypted, and evolvable transport for HTTP/3, WebTransport, and beyond.
He’ll also share how Rust powers key networking components like URI
parsing, structured headers, and the new Hickory DNS client, plus
insights from collaborations such as quinn-udp,
simulation-based testing, and emerging tech like MASQUE and
WebTransport.