The MonkCast Kat Cosgrove on The Chaos and Care of Shipping Kubernetes
Jul 29, 2025
Kat Cosgrove, Head of Developer Advocacy at Minimus and a key figure in the Kubernetes community, shares her insights into the world of Kubernetes and the release team. She discusses the importance of effective communication in open source, clarifies misconceptions around Docker's deprecation, and explains the structure of Kubernetes Special Interest Groups. Kat also addresses the sustainability challenges of open source, highlighting maintainer burnout and the necessity for corporate support to create a balanced ecosystem.
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Viral Explanation Boosts Career
- Kat Cosgrove explained the deprecation of the Docker shim for Kubernetes and how it caused widespread confusion and misinformation online.
- Her detailed tweets and explanations went viral, boosting her visibility and pull into the Kubernetes contributor community.
Apply Persistently for Release Team
- Apply openly and persistently for Kubernetes release team shadows; applications open post-release typically.
- Competition is fierce, but persistence and passion in contributions can gain a spot.
Open Source Success Needs Marketing
- Most new open source projects can’t expect to attract contributors like Kubernetes.
- A successful project must engage in ongoing marketing and community building beyond coding.