Changelog Interviews From Chef to System Initiative (remastered)
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Aug 21, 2025 In this engaging discussion, Adam Jacob—entrepreneur and co-founder of System Initiative, known for his work with Chef—reminisces about his tech journey. He shares nostalgic tales from his early days as a SysAdmin and the pivotal moments that sparked his passion for open source. Jacob highlights the evolution of cloud and edge computing, and the innovative shift towards identity management in AI. He also reflects on the challenges of entrepreneurship, the significance of community in tech, and his transition from culinary arts to DevOps.
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Bulletin Boards Sparked A Career
- Adam Jacob started running bulletin boards and FidoNet as a child and gave friends internet access by booting Linux from a secret code.
- That early tinkering and community access sparked his lifelong passion for systems and open source.
Linux Enabled Self-Taught Growth
- Linux changed Adam Jacob's life by exposing source code and a generous community that taught him systems skills without formal schooling.
- That access created his open source ethic and enabled his career trajectory into infrastructure and startups.
Fixing Puppet's Bug Led To Chef
- While consulting on Puppet, Jacob found severe bugs and fixed a random checksum overwrite by reproducing the issue on a remote system in New Zealand.
- That experience and conflict with Puppet's maintainer motivated him to write Chef as a more reliable automation tool.