In our conversation at KubeCon in Paris, Jonah Kowall of Aiven discusses his extensive background in observability, his role at Aiven overseeing product management, and his active involvement in open source projects such as Jaeger, OpenSearch, and OpenTelemetry. We also touch on software licensing and Redis's shift to proprietary software. We explore the challenges of maintaining project sustainability, attracting new contributors, and the importance of cross-project collaboration within the open source community. The discussion encapsulates the vibrant dynamics of open source development, the evolving landscape of observability tools, and underscores the collective endeavor to foster innovation and sustainability in this space.
00:00 Introduction
01:19 Deep Dive into Jaeger: The Observability Tool
02:21 Exploring OpenSearch and Its Ecosystem
03:27 The Impact of Licensing Changes on Open Source
06:20 The Challenge of Sustaining Open Source Projects
09:36 Fostering New Contributors and Community Engagement
12:30 Observability Trends and the Future of Open Source
19:25 Enhancing Collaboration in the Open Source Ecosystem
20:55 Final Thoughts and Advice for Aspiring Contributors
Resources:
Jaeger: open source, distributed tracing platform (jaegertracing.io)
Guest: Jonah Kowall, computer scientist and open-source contributor to OpenSearch, Jaeger, OpenTelemetry. A technical leader across startups to large enterprises specialized in operations, security, and performance. Led Gartner research on monitoring. Product leadership at AppDynamics, Cisco (post-acquisition), Kentik, Logz.io, and is current the head of product management at Aiven building tomorrow’s open source data platform for everyone.Popular Podcasts
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