You're free to do so, as is anyone.

But you'll have to overcome and provide a good reason for why anyone using sqlite should move to your new unproven shiny.

If anything sqlite is a poster child for c done (and tested/validated) right. You'll have to demonstrate a lot more than you can implement some things better in the new language.

I'm going to stop here since the goalposts keep moving. My point is: no one brought "rewrite in rust" up but yourself.

Fair enough, but I guess I don't see a difference between rewrite sqlite in rust and, make something exactly like sqlite, with a c ffi but in rust.