Contributor Eric Anderson
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- Technology
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The origin story behind the best open source projects and communities.
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Secret Sauce: Amplication with Yuval Hazaz
Amplication is an open-source development platform for scalable and secure Node.js applications. It allows engineers to skip writing boilerplate code and offers the flexibility to customize and add components. Amplification was created by Yuval Hazaz (@Yuvalhazaz1), a veteran developer who determined that low-code platforms save time but restrict freedom. Instead, Amplication uses code generation to reliably and consistently build robust production‑ready backend services.
Contributor is looking for a community manager! If you want to know more, shoot us an email at eric@scalevp.com.
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In this episode we discuss:
Yuval’s “secret sauce” for building an open-source community
How platform engineers can use Amplication for company-wide standardization
A baseline organic growth rate for open-source projects
The role of generative AI in code modernization
Links:
Amplication -
To the Moon: OpenBB with Didier Lopes
OpenBB is an open-source investment research platform created by Didier Lopes (@didier_lopes). OpenBB grew out of a project called Gamestonk Terminal that Didier began working on shortly before the Gamestop short squeeze in January 2021. Today, OpenBB has evolved into an infrastructure platform that allows users to build extensions and access financial data with automation and customization.
Contributor is looking for a community manager! If you want to know more, shoot us an email at eric@scalevp.com.
Subscribe to Contributor on Substack for email notifications!
In this episode we discuss:
What Vice Media got wrong about OpenBB
Some major contributors to the project and the features or directions that they proposed
How a machine learning engineer from Bloomberg reached out about OpenBB
Different types of OpenBB users – students, retail investors, and other financial professionals
OpenBB’s exciting AI roadmap
Links:
OpenBB
People mentioned:
James Maslek (@jmaslek11
Artem Veremey (@artemvv) -
Robust Observability: OpenTelemetry with Austin Parker
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.
Subscribe to Contributor on Substack for email notifications!
In this episode we discuss:
How Austin’s interest in complex systems led him to the observability field and developer relations
An X argument that contributed to the merger of OpenTelemetry and OpenCensus
Why foundations help maintainers to strike a balance with their contributors
Austin’s opinion on the secret to OpenTelemetry’s success
Links:
OpenTelemetry
Honeycomb
People mentioned:
Charity Majors (@mipsytipsy)
Christine Yen (@cyen) -
Never Build Permissions Again: OPAL with Or Weis
OPAL is an open-source administration layer for Policy Engines such as Open Policy Agent (OPA). OPAL provides the necessary infrastructure to load policy and data into multiple policy engines, ensuring they have the information they need to make decisions. Today, we’re talking to Or Weis (@OrWeis), co-creator of OPAL and co-founder of Permit, the end-to-end authorization platform that envisions a world where developers never have to build permissions again.
Contributor is looking for a community manager! If you want to know more, shoot us an email at eric@scalevp.com.
Subscribe to Contributor on Substack for email notifications!
In this episode we discuss:
History of Permit and OPAL
The benefits of an open-foundation model rather than open-core
RBAC vs ABAC vs ReBAC
Why developers would prefer to not have to deal with authorization
Or’s own podcast, Command+Shift+Left
Links:
OPAL
Permit
Command+Shift+Left
Terraform
People mentioned:
Asaf Cohen (@asafchn)
Filip Grebowski (@developerfilip)
Other episodes:
Open Policy Agent with Torin Sandall
Community Driven IaC: OpenTofu with Kuba Martin -
Oxygen Deprivation: FerretDB with Peter Farkas
FerretDB enables users to run MongoDB applications on existing Postgres infrastructure. Peter Farkas (@FarkasP), co-founder and CEO of FerretDB, explains the need for an open source interface for document databases. Peter also discusses the licensing change of MongoDB and the uncertainty it created for users. He emphasizes the importance of open standards and collaboration among MongoDB alternatives to provide users with choice and interoperability.
Contributor is looking for a community manager! If you want to know more, shoot us an email at eric@scalevp.com.
Subscribe to Contributor on Substack for email notifications!
In this episode we discuss:
The epic mountain adventure that inspired FerretDB
Why commercial open-source can be additive rather than extractive
How compatibility and open standards drives innovation and competition
PDFs as an example of corporation-supported standards
Three tenets for building a successful open source project
Links:
FerretDB
Percona
People:
Peter Zaitsev (@PeterZaitsev) -
The Duke of SQLite: Litestream with Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson (@benbjohnson) is the creator of Litestream and LiteFS, two open-source disaster recovery solution for SQLite. Litestream is designed to provide continuous backups for SQLite databases by streaming incremental changes, allowing for easy data recovery in the event of a server crash. LiteFS, on the other hand, is built on LiteStream but uses transactional control to focus on replication and high availability. Join us as Ben discusses the challenges and trade-offs of open source contributions and the future of databases.
Contributor is looking for a community manager! If you want to know more, shoot us an email at eric@scalevp.com.
Subscribe to Contributor on Substack for email notifications!
In this episode we discuss:
The history of how Ben got involved in SQLite development out of “spite”
How Litestream “works on a fluke”
Different use cases for Litestream vs LiteFS
Why fully open contributions isn’t always Ben’s style
The greater server-side SQLite landscape
Links:
Litestream
LiteFS
Fly.io
BoltDB
People mentioned:
Philip O’Toole (@general_order24)
Other episodes:
The Social Miracle: rqlite with Philip O’Toole
The Big Fork: libSQL with Glauber Costa
Customer Reviews
Seriously good
Seriously underrated show. Most tech podcasts don't get as deep as Contributor. Would love to see guests from an even wider variety of open-source projects!
The best
Love this show!
Great podcast
Always love a good origin story.