localfirst.fm – Details, episodes & analysis

The guest of this episode is Matthew Weidner, a computer science PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University focussing on distributed systems and local-first software. Matthew has recently published an extensive blog post about architectures for central server collaboration which is explored in depth in this conversation comparing different approaches such as CRDTs and event sourcing.

Mentioned in podcast

• Matthew Weidner: x.com/MatthewWeidner3 / mattweidner.com
• Architectures for Central Server Collaboration
• TRVE Data project
• Shapiro 2011 paper
• Carlos Baquero papers
• CRDT paper (the "very theoretical" one)
• Collabs: Docs / Paper
• Jupiter collaboration system from the 90s
• Building on Quicksand
• Immutability Changes Everything
• Ink & Switch's Upwelling
• list-positions
• Fractional indexing

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm

Thank you to Expo and Rocicorp for supporting the podcast.

The guest of this episode is Maggie Appleton, a designer, anthropologist and developer who has recently explored the world of local-first by giving the closing keynote at the last local-first conf. This conversation will dive into the topics of her talk including home cooked software, the idea behind barefoot developers and how AI complements local-first software development. 

Mentioned in podcast

• Maggie Appleton: x.com/Mappletons + maggieappleton.com
• Home-cooked Software and Barefoot Programmers: Maggie Appleton (Local-First Conf)
• Home-Cooked Software and Barefoot Developers

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm

Thank you to Expo and Rocicorp for supporting the podcast.

The guest of this episode, Martin Kleppmann, is one of the authors of the original local-first essay. Martin has been exploring local-first software and CRDTs for over 10 years, which has led to the creation of Automerge, which we discuss in depth in this episode. This episode is also exploring the ideas of generic sync servers and the impact this technology could have on local-first software in the future.

Mentioned in podcast

• Martin Kleppmann: martin.kleppmann.com + x.com/martinkl + bsky.app/profile/martin.kleppmann.com + nondeterministic.computer/@martin
• Ink & Switch
• Bluesky
• Automerge CRDTs
• The original CRDT paper
• Our JSON CRDT paper
• Our design for rich text in Automerge
• How Bluesky works

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm
• Local-First Conf 2024

Thank you to Expo and CrabNebula for supporting the podcast.

In this episode we talk about Geoffrey's background in malleable software and how relational databases can be leveraged to build better web apps and improve data ownership. A topic he extensively investigates through the Riffle research project.

Mentioned in podcast

• Geoffrey Litt: x.com/geoffreylitt + www.geoffreylitt.com
•  Ink and Switch
•  Cambria (2020)
•  Riffle essay (2022)
•  Riffle paper (2023)

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm

Thank you to Expo and CrabNebula for supporting the podcast.

In this episode we talk about Aaron's history in local-first, which goes back to 2008 with the release of Google Gears – the first time sqlite was added to the browser - and his perspective on where we're at now and why local-first is finally happening.

Mentioned in podcast:

• Aaron: x.com/aboodman + aaronboodman.com
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gears_(software)
• rocicorp.dev
• replicache.dev
• reflect.net

Links:

• Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm

Thank you to Expo and CrabNebula for supporting the podcast.

In this inaugural episode, I'm speaking to Peter van Hardenberg, who helped to coin and popularize the term Local First. As the director of the Ink & Switch Research Lab, he's been on the forefront of this work for the better part of a decade. My conversation with him today starts with the basics of what Local First is and why you, an application developer, should care about it.

Mentioned in podcast:

• Peter: x.com/pvh + pvh.ca
• inkandswitch.com/local-first
• inkandswitch.com
• automerge.org

Links:

• Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm

Thank you to Expo and CrabNebula for supporting the podcast.

The guest of this episode is James Pearce, the author of Tinybase, a reactive data store library for local-first apps. This conversation will explore how Tinybase works including its custom query system, the various persistence and syncing integrations as well as James’ plans for the future. 

Mentioned in podcast

• James Pearce: x.com/jamespearce + scoutsailing.com
• TinyBase
• TinyHub

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm
• Local-First Conf 2024

Thank you to Expo and Rocicorp for supporting the podcast.

The guest of this episode is Adam Wiggins, who is the founder of Heroku and one of the co-authors of the local-first essay by Ink & Switch. As Adam is also a co-organizer of the first local-first conference, this conversation will reflect on the event, share our learnings and discuss a couple of key topics such as a new definition of local-first software. 

Mentioned in podcast

• Adam Wiggins: x.com/_adamwiggins_ + adamwiggins.com
• Browsertech Digest Trip Report: Local First Conf
• Alice and Bob in wonderland. Bootstrapping identity and authority in a world without servers.

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm
• Local-First Conf 2024

Thank you to Expo and Rocicorp for supporting the podcast.

The guest of this episode is Matt Wonlaw, a prolific local-first tool builder who’s behind projects such as Vlcn, cr-sqlite and Materialite. Most recently Matt also joined Rocicorp to work on their new product. This conversation will go deep on his projects covering CRDTs, SQLite and incremental view maintenance.

Mentioned in podcast

• Matt Wonlaw: x.com/tantaman + github.com/tantaman
• RemoteStorage
• ownCloud
• The Virtual Table Mechanism Of SQLite
• Towards a General Database Management System of Conflict-Free Replicated Relations
• Materialite benchmark

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm
• Local-First Conf 2024

Thank you to Expo and Rocicorp for supporting the podcast.

The guest of this episode is Dax Raad, who is using local-first in multiple projects including the serverless deployment tool SST.dev, a healthcare app and an upcoming personal finance app. This conversation will explore how local-first simplifies app development, the UX and data patterns he used on and how self-hosting could empower local-first apps.

Mentioned in podcast

• Dax Raad: x.com/thdxr + thdxr.com
• SST.dev
• Rethinking the startup MVP: Building a competitive product.

Links:

•  Website: localfirst.fm
• X/Twitter: x.com/localfirstfm
• YouTube: youtube.com/@localfirstfm
• Local-First Conf 2024

Thank you to Expo and CrabNebula for supporting the podcast.