Robust Observability: OpenTelemetry with Austin Parker
Feb 28, 2024
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Explore the success of OpenTelemetry in the CNCF, the benefits of flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in, and the secrets to maintaining a balance between maintainers and contributors. Learn about Austin Parker's journey into observability, the merger of OpenTelemetry and OpenCensus, and the importance of foundations in supporting open-source projects.
OpenTelemetry's success stems from avoiding vendor lock-in, attracting startups and enterprises alike.
The merger of OpenTelemetry and OpenCensus resolved duplicated efforts, shaping future observability standards.
Deep dives
Austin Parker's Journey into Open Source and Observability
Austin Parker shares his journey into developer relations and software through experiences like working at LightStep, involvement in projects like OpenTracing and OpenTelemetry, and the importance of nurturing community in open source projects like OpenTelemetry.
Merge of OpenTracing and OpenCensus into OpenTelemetry
The podcast delves into the merger of projects like OpenTracing and OpenCensus into OpenTelemetry, highlighting how this consolidation resolved duplicated efforts and laid the foundation for the future of observability standards, leading to a rapidly growing project within the CNCF.
Role and Functionality of OpenTelemetry
OpenTelemetry serves as an open standards project aimed at revolutionizing the way telemetry data is created, exported, collected, and transformed in cloud native systems. By providing a comprehensive toolchain, including APIs, SDKs, and collectors, OpenTelemetry empowers users to effortlessly collect and transform telemetry data, fostering compatibility and innovation within the observability space.
Community and Events Around OpenTelemetry
OpenTelemetry boasts a diverse and engaged community with contributors spanning from startups to Fortune 50 companies, actively participating in Slack channels, GitHub discussions, and frequent SIG meetings. Events like kubecon and observability days provide platforms for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and networking within the ever-growing community of users and developers.
OpenTelemetry is an open-source observability framework for collecting and managing telemetry data. OpenTelemetry has been more successful than expected, becoming the second fastest growing project in the CNCF. It allows for flexibility and avoids vendor lock-in, making it attractive to startups and large enterprises alike. On today’s show, Eric (@ericmander) sits down with Austin Parker (@austinlparker), director of open-source at Honeycomb.
Contributor is looking for a community manager! If you want to know more, shoot us an email at eric@scalevp.com.