The Craft Of Open Source

Interview With Malcolm Matalka: Co-Founder, TerrateamBen Rometsch chats with Malcolm Matalka, co-founder of Terrateam, to discuss the company’s inception and its eventual shift to open source. Together, they discuss how his frustrations with the click ops approach prompted Malcolm to create his own team to disrupt the system and pave the way for much more innovative methods. He opens up about the challenges they faced due to the licensing changes of HashiCrop and how it led to the creation of OpenTofu. The two also emphasize the undeniable dynamic of community-driven projects and how they offer people options and opportunities to adjust, transform, and collaborate.

With almost every transaction being done through the internet, your personal information and finances must be protected at all costs from hackers and scammers. Therefore, cybersecurity is important now more than ever. Leading the charge in keeping the digital world safe and secure is OWASP, a non-profit organization working mainly on software security. Joining this episode is Sam Stepanyan from the OWASP London Chapter who emphasizes why cybersecurity must be accomplished at the start of development, not as an afterthought. He also explains why education on cybersecurity is severely lacking and what should be done to make it a staple subject in schools.

Interview With Chris Villa: Co-Founder, Puck & MeasuredPuck, an open-source project, has exploded in popularity, becoming a major focus for Chris Villa and his team. But how do you balance a runaway open-source hit with the demands of running a consultancy? Join Ben Rometsch as he sits down with Chris Villa, co-founder of both Puck and Measured, to dissect this very dilemma. Chris reveals the fascinating origin story of Puck, its meteoric rise, and the overwhelming "pull" from the community that signals a powerful product-market fit. Find out Chris and his team's bold plan to spin Puck out as its entity, poised to take the project to even greater heights.

Joining this episode is James McLeod, Open Source Program Lead at NatWest Group. He looks back on his career journey, from his role at the Linux Foundation, his efforts in scaling the FINOS project, to the creation of London.js. Reflecting on the many lessons throughout his professional life, James stressed the importance of proper data documentation and education to make open source more accessible to the public. He also explained what it takes for engineers to fully embrace their roles in the wider digital ecosystem, making open source an essential platform for career advancement and development.

This episode features Moritz Klack and Christopher Möller, Co-Founders of xyflow. They look back on their career journey leading to their current company, from developing webkid, creating Datablocks, and launching React Flow. They discuss their transition from agency work to open source, their pricing strategies, and the importance of community feedback. Moritz and Christopher also bare their plans for the future and what trends in the digital space they are most excited about.

With their keen eye for innovation and their knack for spotting the next big thing, Runa Capital is at the forefront of the tech revolution. In this episode, Ben Rometsch delves into the world of open-source software with Konstantin Vinogradov, General Partner at Runa Capital. Konstantin reflects on the founding principles of Runa Capital and its commitment to investing in open source and AI technologies. He also discusses the potential for open-source endowments to provide long-term support for open-source projects, drawing parallels to the funding mechanisms of universities. Join them as they delve into the intersection of technology, investment, and the future of open source in the digital age.

Ivan Burazin proudly presents Daytona, a secure open-source development environment manager that allows developers to tailor their environments according to their specific needs. Ivan looks back on how their company started as an enterprise product before becoming an open-source project for individual developers. He breaks down its most important features, particularly those that assure ease of use, clarity, and simplicity. Ivan also explains how automation and AI tools could further improve Daytona, all while balancing user privacy and accurate data collection.

Buckle up for a journey into Shepherd! In this episode, Chuck Carpenter, the founder of Shepherd Pro and host of Whiskey Web and Whatnot, joins Ben Rometsch to delve into Shepherd and Shepherd JS, an influential open-source library for creating interactive guides in JavaScript. Chuck shares his deep involvement over seven years as a maintainer, highlighting Shepherd’s evolution from its origins at HubSpot to becoming a robust tool with broad community adoption. Don’t miss Chuck’s insights on Shepherd’s edge in the user experience space, its business potential, and his vision for leading the developer community forward.

Managing a modern application landscape can be a balancing act. Enter Prometheus, an open-source champion for monitoring and alerting. In this episode, Julius Volz, co-founder of Prometheus and founder of PromLabs, joins Ben Rometsch to discuss the origins and evolution of Prometheus. Julius traces its inception to his early days at Google and SoundCloud, where the need for a robust monitoring system inspired Prometheus. He explains how Prometheus revolutionized monitoring with its pull-based approach, powerful PromQL query language, and flexible data model, enabling effective monitoring, alerting, and automation. Discover how Prometheus continues to shape the future of monitoring!  

Moderne is a pioneer in the field of mass-scale automated code refactoring, and it has some pretty interesting origins. In this episode, co-founder Jonathan Schneider talks about the genesis of Moderne, how he started his open-source journey from being an engineer at Netflix, and their current initiatives, including some interesting developments at Openhaus. Tune in for more details!