Open Source, Cloud, and the Fight for Better Developer Experience
The modern developer experience is breaking down.
Between vendor sprawl, slow pipelines, security bottlenecks, and context switching across 14+ tools a day, developers are burning out fast.
Most companies today are waking up to the reality that DevOps stacks were built for control, not usability. Now, internal developer platforms are stepping in to bridge the gap, enabling speed, scale, and community alignment without compromising developer sanity.
This month’s edition explores what happens when developer velocity, open source governance, and corporate strategy collide — and how we can rebuild with better intent.
✨ FEATURED ARTICLE
What do medieval feudalism and today’s cloud-native software landscape have in common?
This article explores how power dynamics in open source echo the feudal structures of the past, where a few hold influence, while many do the heavy lifting. As cloud providers grow more powerful, smaller companies and contributors are left navigating relicensing debates, forks, and the fight to maintain autonomy.
👉 Dive into the full article: Clouds, Code, and Control: The New Open Source Power Struggle by Dawn Foster
👩🏽💻 DevOps Insights
If I Need Slack to Use It, It’s Not a Platform as Product by by Shweta Vohra
Automating Kubernetes Cleanup in CI Workflows by Hrittik Roy
OpenTelemetry for Go: measuring the overhead by Nikolay Sivko
How to Deploy Next.js to Cloud Servers: A Step-by-Step Guide BY Anita Ihuman
🤝 Open Source Highlight
My Fav Open Source Tools on Github as a Developer (2025 List) by Emmanuel Mumba
A Pragmatist's Guide to Open Source Licensing: From Fear to Innovation by Arun Babu Neelicattu
Measuring open source community health with Savannah by Alan Pope
Design system annotations, part 1: How accessibility gets left out of components by Jan Maarten
📣 Community Corner
CNCF Ambassadors program: Looking to step up as a leader in open source and cloud-native communities? The CNCF Ambassador Program recognizes individuals who drive education, engagement, and inclusion within the ecosystem.
If you’re already organizing events, speaking, mentoring, or creating resources, this is your sign to apply here.AWS She Builds Mentorship Program: If you’re a woman in tech looking to grow in cloud computing, AWS, or leadership, don’t miss this opportunity!
The AWS She Builds Mentorship Program 2025 is a 12-week global mentorship initiative by Amazon Web Services designed to uplift and empower women across the tech spectrum. Apply Here:
🌟 Project Spotlight
Giskard— An open source testing platform for AI models bringing transparency and accountability. Giskard can help data scientists and developers ensure the quality, security, and compliance of its customers’ AI models
📅 Events
🍒 Bonus
🎨 Interested in Open Source as a Designer?
Watch this: Open Source and Design: How to contribute to open source as a Product Designer