Memory Safety and Modernizing Python's Cryptography Ecosystem with Alex Gaynor

Alex Gaynor, long-time open source contributor and core developer of Django, PyPy, and Python's cryptography library, joins us to discuss the challenging transition from C to Rust in the Python ecosystem. We explore memory safety vulnerabilities like buffer overflows, the technical and community challenges of introducing Rust to a major Python library, and how to navigate hostile feedback during controversial changes. Alex shares lessons from shipping the first Rust-based cryptography release, managing platform compatibility issues, and why sometimes breaking backwards compatibility is necessary to move an ecosystem forward.

A must-listen for anyone maintaining critical open source infrastructure or dealing with the "gross" realities of pushing technological boundaries.

https://cryptography.io/en/latest/

For a video version of this podcast, check out https://youtu.be/-nJHBWtcTug.

The GR-OSS OUT Podcast is produced by Ben Wiley.