During January 2026, Dieter De Paepe focused on improving backup history retrieval reliability and performance in the apache/hbase repository. He addressed a bug that restored correct ordering for backup history queries, ensuring the most recent backups are listed first. Dieter merged and optimized backup information retrieval methods, simplifying the codebase and enhancing performance. He extended and refactored automated tests to verify correct behavior and mitigated a potential exception risk, increasing system robustness. Working primarily with Java and leveraging backend development and testing skills, Dieter’s contributions resulted in more reliable backup administration workflows and clearer, more maintainable APIs for future development.