A Conversation with Paul Masurel, Creator of Tantivy
6 points by jamesgresql
6 points by jamesgresql
"If I had looked at the lexical search and BM25 space in 2016, I would have said it was solved, and that catching up would be nearly impossible."
This interview with Tantivy creator Paul Masurel looks at how wrong I would have been; discussing challenging solved domains, open-source competition done right, and why long-fermented frustration is an underrated driver.
NB: I don't usually submit my work to lobste.rs because I know self promotion is frowned upon, but in this case the interview isn't really related to my employer at all, and I think will be interesting for a wide range of folks. The way Tantivy and Lucene both deal with open-source competition is something other projects could learn a lot from.
Feel free to remove if I'm off the mark.