Kelsey Hightower, AWS's Eswar Bala on Open Source's Evolution
Apr 17, 2025
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Kelsey Hightower, a Kubernetes pioneer focused on making complex systems accessible, teams up with Eswar Bala, AWS's EKS Director, who specializes in container orchestration. They discuss the grassroots origins of open source and its role in democratizing tech access. Hightower shares his personal journey and the importance of contributions over credentials. Bala highlights AWS's commitment to open source, introducing projects like Karpenter and Cedar. Their conversation emphasizes collaboration and how community-driven innovation is reshaping the cloud landscape.
Kelsey Hightower emphasized that open source empowers individuals, enabling participation based on contributions rather than traditional tech credentials.
The discussion revealed that customer feedback is crucial in shaping open source initiatives, influencing corporate investment and project development in cloud computing.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Open Source in Cloud Technology
Open source software has become integral to cloud infrastructure, particularly through platforms like Kubernetes, which emerged in 2014 as a significant advancement in container orchestration. The discussion highlights how early contributors, like Ishwar Bala and Kelsey Hightower, transitioned from their backgrounds into the open source realm, illustrating the shift from proprietary systems to collaborative community-driven projects. The rise of Kubernetes marked a turning point, where developers prioritized features like application sets and service discovery, which aligned closely with existing systems yet innovated on scalability. This evolution reflects not only the technology's growth but also a broader acceptance and adoption within major cloud providers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
Community Collaboration and Drive in Open Source
The conversation emphasizes the vibrant and collaborative community that has formed around open source projects, particularly in the cloud computing space. Participants from diverse backgrounds—including tech giants and independent contributors—engage openly, fostering an environment where ideas and solutions are shared freely. This community-driven approach stands in contrast to traditional corporate structures, promoting a sense of camaraderie that encourages innovation and problem-solving. Notably, the experiences shared underscore that the community's success hinges not just on personal relationships but also on the collective goal of addressing technical challenges faced by users across all platforms.
Customer Influence on Open Source Development
Customer feedback is identified as a critical driver of open source project initiatives. The needs and preferences of cloud customers significantly influence which projects receive corporate backing and investment, as manifested in the collaboration between Amazon and other major players like Microsoft and Google. This dynamic holds vendors accountable, ensuring that their contributions add real value to the community and address common issues faced by users. The discussion reflects on a broader industry trend where customer demands shape the direction of open source development, making it essential for providers to remain responsive and engaged with the ecosystem.
Sustaining Open Source Projects Amid Commercial Interests
Maintaining the longevity and viability of open source projects is a complex challenge, especially as commercial interests increasingly intertwine with community-driven initiatives. The conversation points out that effective project sustainability requires a balance between corporate involvement and fostering an inclusive community where diverse contributors can thrive. Companies like AWS are adapting their strategies by creating transparent processes for contributions and actively involving developers in decision-making. This approach not only encourages wide participation but also reassures contributors that their input is valued, ultimately enhancing the health and sustainability of open source projects in the long run.
In a candid episode of The New Stack Makers, Kubernetes pioneer Kelsey Hightower and AWS’s Eswar Bala explored the evolving relationship between enterprise cloud providers and open source software at KubeCon+CloudNativeCon London. Hightower highlighted open source's origins as a grassroots movement challenging big vendors, and shared how it gave people—especially those without traditional tech credentials—a way into the industry. Recalling his own journey, Hightower emphasized that open source empowered individuals through contribution over credentials.
Bala traced the early development of Kubernetes and his own transition from building container orchestration systems to launching AWS’s Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), driven by growing customer demand. The discussion, recorded at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe, touched on how open source is now central to enterprise cloud strategies, with AWS not only contributing but creating projects like Karpenter, Cedar, and Kro.
Both speakers agreed that open source's collaborative model—where companies build in public and customers drive innovation—has reshaped the cloud ecosystem, turning former tensions into partnerships built on community-driven progress.
Learn more from The New Stack about the relationship between enterprise cloud providers and open source software:
