netstack.fm

Episode 38: Building and testing network stacks with Rama. In this Protocol Shorts episode of Netstack.fm , Glen talks with Brecht Stamper about Rama, the modular Rust framework for building clients, servers, proxies, and other network systems. Brecht shares how he came to understand Rama’s core idea that everything is a service, and why that simple input to output contract makes it easier to comp...

episode 37: dial9: from black box to insight in Tokio. In this episode of Netstack.fm , Glen talks with Jess Izen and Russell Cohen from Amazon about Dial9, a new tool for understanding what’s happening inside Rust and Tokio applications. They explain how it captures events from different layers of your system and puts them into a single timeline, making it much easier to debug tricky performance...

Episode 36 – Protocol Shorts: WireGuard In this Protocol Shorts episode of netstack.fm , we explore WireGuard, a modern and lightweight VPN protocol. Glen explains what makes it different from traditional VPNs and why its simplicity and security model are gaining attention among developers. The episode also highlights real world use cases and why VPNs like WireGuard remain essential for securely a...

Episode 35 – OpenTelemetry, eBPF and Metoro (Ep 3 Remastered). In this remastered episode, 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 integrat...

Episode 34 — Tokio with Carl Lerche (Ep 5 Remastered). In this remastered episode, 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 o...

Episode 33 – Protocol Shorts: TLS Encrypted Client Hello. This episode explores TLS Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) and how it improves privacy on the internet by hiding sensitive metadata that was previously exposed during the TLS handshake. While traditional TLS encrypts the actual data exchanged between client and server, key details like the Server Name Indication (SNI), which reveals the website...

Episode 32 – Datastar and Hypermedia. In this remastered 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...

episode 31 — Protocol Shorts: MITM Proxies and Transparent L4 Interception. In this second "Protocol Shorts" episode, we look at man-in-the-middle proxies from the transport layer up. The episode explains how HTTP proxies, HTTP CONNECT, and SOCKS5 differ, why they all assume a proxy-aware client, and what changes when a transparent layer 4 proxy is inserted by the operating system instead. From th...

episode 30: uReq with Martin Algesten. In this episode, we take a deep dive into uReq: why it was created, its history and origin, a high level overview, and explore in depth its protocols and implementation details. Learn more: https://github.com/algesten/ureq — A simple, safe HTTP client https://github.com/algesten/ureq/blob/main/src/run.rs - example on how uReq and Sans IO come together https:/...

Episode 29 – Hyper with Sean McArthur (Ep 2 Remastered). In this remastered 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 insigh...

episode 28: socketioxide with Théodore Prévot. This episode features an in-depth conversation with Théodore Prévot, creator and maintainer of the Rust crate socketioxide. We explore the origins of the project, how a personal writing app led to implementing a full Socket. IO server in Rust, and what it takes to build and maintain a high-level real-time protocol on top of Tokio, Tower, and the Rust...

episode 27: AI Policies, OSS Maintenance and EU Open Source Academy with Daniel Stenberg. This episode features a deep and pragmatic conversation with Daniel Stenberg, founder of cURL and president of the European Open Source Academy, reflecting on FOSDEM 2026, the growing role of open source in European policy, and what digital sovereignty means in practice; Daniel shares the motivation behind th...

episode 26: Email protocols with Mauro De Gennaro from Stalwart Labs. This episode features an in depth conversation with Mauro De Gennaro of Stalwart Labs that demystifies how email actually works in practice, from SMTP delivery and DNS based routing to IMAP, JMAP, spam filtering, encryption, and authentication standards like DKIM, SPF, and DMARC, all through the lens of building and operating a...

episode 25: FOSDEM 2026 special. Recorded live from FOSDEM 2026. Learn more: https://fosdem.org/2026/ — FOSDEM 2026 website https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/CKANPK-programmable_networking_with_rama/ — FOSDEM 2026 rama talk https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/ — NLnet Labs website https://github.com/NLnetLabs/roto — roto github repo https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/DS7LFX-rust-roto-calling-jit-com...

episode 24: WebAssembly and Rust in Practice, A Conversation with Alex Crichton. In this episode we sit down with Alex Crichton to talk about WebAssembly and Rust in practice. We discuss how Wasm grew beyond the browser into a serious runtime for servers and plugins, and why Rust fits so well in this space. We also explore WASI, the component model, and lessons from building Wasmtime, covering per...

episode 23 — Protocol Shorts: HTTP as an Application Bus. This is the debut of our "Protocol Shorts" series: fast-paced, high-density conversations with one or more expert guests centered around a common theme. In the "HTTP as an application bus" episode, we’re breaking down the tunneling renaissance—specifically the clever 'protocol-within-a-protocol' hacks that are changing the game. From hijack...

episode 22 — Rust URL with Simon Sapin. In this episode of Netstack.fm , Simon Sapin discusses building the rust-url crate based on the WHATWG URL specification. He also highlights that IDNA support was integrated to handle internationalized domain names, which includes critical security checks to prevent phishing from "confusable" characters that look identical to users. Learn more: https://docs....

episode 21 — GraphQL and Rust with Tom Houlé. In this episode of Netstack.fm, Glen and Tom Houlé discuss GraphQL's transition from a high-hype mobile data solution at Facebook to a mature enterprise technology. They explore technical challenges like the N+1 problem and persisted queries, as well as the rise of GraphQL Federation for unifying microservices in Rust-based gateways. Tom also highlight...

episode 20 — Netstack. FM New Year Special, 2025 Wrap-Up. This New Year special reflects on the first nineteen episodes of netstack.fm , highlighting key lessons about networking, Rust, open source, and the people behind the protocols and systems that power the internet. It also looks at the evolution of the Rama framework and sets the stage for continued learning, collaboration, and new conversat...

episode 19 — Firezone and Zero-Trust Network Security with Thomas Eizinger. In this episode of Netstack.fm, Glen talks with Thomas Eizinger from Firezone about designing a zero trust enterprise VPN built on top of WireGuard. They break down how modern VPNs work in practice, covering virtual network adapters, split tunneling, DNS interception, policy based access, and secure packet routing using Wi...

episode 18 — Curiosity, Quake, and Networking with Fabien Sanglard. Glen talks with Fabien Sanglard about curiosity driven engineering, from early computers and classic games like Doom and Quake to modern Android development and ADB. They discuss how networking evolved in games, why latency shaped multiplayer design, how Rust improves reliability in large systems, and why writing and diagrams are...

episode 17 — Early Web History and Interlisp with Larry Masinter. We sit down with internet pioneer and longtime IETF contributor Larry Masinter to revisit the origins of many technologies developers use every day. From his early days at Xerox PARC to co-authoring foundational RFCs on HTTP, URIs, and more, Larry shares first-hand stories that connect the early web to the world we build in now. The...

episode 16 — WebRTC and Sans IO with Martin Algesten. We sit down with Rust developer Martin Algesten for a deep dive into WebRTC and the Sans IO approach to protocol design. Martin traces the surprising origins of WebRTC, explains why real time media over UDP is both powerful and painfully complex, and walks through how peer to peer connections work under the hood. The conversation then shifts to...

episode 15 — Pingora with Edward and Noah from Cloudflare. In Episode 15 of netstack.fm, Glen sits down with Edward and Noah from Cloudflare to unpack the design of Pingora, the Rust based proxy framework that now powers Cloudflare’s origin facing traffic. The discussion covers why Cloudflare moved away from NGINX, how Pingora differs from Oxy, and what it takes to operate a high performance globa...

Episode 14 – Roto And Cascade with Terts and Arya from NLnet Labs. In this episode we have a conversation with Terts and Arya from NLnet Labs. Together we explore their paths into systems programming, the mission of NLnet Labs, and the critical internet infrastructure the organization maintains. The discussion spans DNSSEC, large scale DNS operations, Rotonda, and the Roto scripting language, with...