Why We’re Talking About Stewardship Instead of Rewrites
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In two recent podcast conversations, our CEO, Robby Russell, reflects on what that really means for teams responsible for long-lived systems. Instead of framing legacy code as something broken or failing, these discussions explore how thoughtful stewardship, healthy engineering culture, and steady modernization can extend the life of software that already delivers value. From technical debt to AI tools, the common thread here is that progress doesn’t require starting over. It requires care, clarity, and a plan for what comes next.
Why Maintaining a Codebase Is So Damn Hard
In his conversation with Quincy Larson on the freeCodeCamp Podcast, Robby pulls back the curtain on something most engineering managers quietly wrestle with: Is maintaining a mature codebase harder than starting fresh? He shares that the difficulty doesn’t come from age alone. It comes from how teams respond to risk. Over time, teams slip into a “don’t let that happen again” culture. Every bug adds a new rule. Every outage adds a new layer of caution. Eventually, the system becomes so protected that getting new code into production feels like navigating a minefield. Robby talks about how to reverse that pattern by rebuilding trust in the system, tightening feedback loops, and designing processes that foster momentum rather than fear.
He also touches on two pressure points that resonate deeply with experienced teams: dependency on the “one developer who knows everything” and the rise of LLM tools. AI can accelerate workflows and help surface context, but it can’t replace the hard-earned judgment embedded in long-lived systems. If anything, these tools are most powerful when paired with teams that understand the codebase's history. The conversation is refreshingly honest about the real work of sustaining software that matters.
Sustainability in Software Development
On the Overcommitted Podcast, Robby joins hosts Brittany, Bethany, and Erika for a deeper conversation about sustainability in software development. The focus shifts from shipping fast to building systems that last. They explore the weight of technical debt, the drag it creates on productivity, and the quiet cost of ignoring maintenance until it becomes urgent. Robby shares lessons from two decades of consulting and from stewarding Oh My Zsh, emphasizing that documentation, testing, and collaborative culture aren’t “nice to haves.” They’re what keep software alive.
What makes this episode stand out is the human layer. The discussion moves beyond code into engineering culture and long-term career sustainability. Great systems are built by teams who can sustain themselves, too. There’s a steady thread throughout the conversation: legacy code isn’t a failure. It’s an accumulated effort. The question is not whether to replace it, but how to evolve it responsibly. It’s a thoughtful episode for leaders who want their software and their teams to thrive well beyond the next release cycle. (There’s also a video version.)
Every system carries the imprint of the people who built it. The real work is not replacing that history. It is honoring it while shaping what comes next.