Rewriting SQLite from Prison

So a guy becomes a drug dealer, goes to prison for 10 years, then (while in prison) somehow becomes a “Rust fanatic”, lands a full time job re-writing SQLite in Rust, and buys a house. While still in prison. For being a drug dealer. Huh. There’s... I mean... huh. Rewriting SQLite... from prison! In this interview I talked with @PThorpe92, who is a full time software engineer and currently incarcerated for non-violent offenses. He's helping @tursodatabase rewrite SQLite from scratch. It's an inspiring story. Database School podcast Rewriting SQLite from prison with Preston Thorpe

A dark-mode social media post reacts to the story of a convicted drug dealer who became a Rust enthusiast, worked as a software engineer, helped rewrite SQLite from prison, and bought a house. The punchline is the speaker’s disbelief that someone incarcerated for dealing drugs could achieve such an unusual and inspiring technical career while still in prison. The embedded interview image reinforces the story with the caption “Rewriting SQLite from prison.”

• @gentoomemes / 19190 2025-11-01