🎃 October heralds the whispers of change and the playful charm of pumpkin-spiced…everything! In this edition, we bring you a blend of insightful narratives, and the latest cloud native news, with a sprinkle of autumnal joy. 

I am thrilled to be gearing up for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA 2023 in Chicago - I can hardly wait to meet many of you in person, share our ideas, and listen to folks working on cutting-edge innovations in cloud native computing. With so many topics, tracks, and talks, we’ll barely “skyscrape” the surface of everything being worked on! 

Interested in submitting content to the newsletter? Send it to us at wotc@cncf.io

The cult of Obsidian: Why people are obsessed with the note-taking app

Discover the captivating story of Obsidian's ascent as a note-taking gem, challenging conventional software norms, cultivating a devoted user community enchanted by its unique, user-empowering design, and redefining what a note-taking app can be.

Unified session for analytical events

Uber has developed a unique strategy to streamline user analytical sessions by introducing the 'Unified Session' framework. This framework addresses scalability, cross-domain analytics, and data consistency challenges by seamlessly integrating front-end and back-end events. It enables accurate analytics and helps establish a more comprehensive understanding of user interactions across different business departments.

The golden rules of presentation design

Discover effective presentation design tips: use fewer elements, key words over sentences, visual hierarchy, icons to reinforce concepts, natural and diverse stock photos, and consistent styles.

CNCF ECOSYSTEM PULSE: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Cloud Native Computing Foundation announces Cilium graduation
It’s graduation day! Celebrate the remarkable evolution of Cilium from a simple Container Networking Interface to a comprehensive networking, observability, and security solution as it graduates with accolades from the CNCF, showcasing its pivotal role in advancing cloud native networking and observability for over 100 organizations worldwide​.

OpenTelemetry project journey report

This comprehensive report explores the incredible journey of OpenTelemetry as it transformed within the CNCF. Discover how it evolved from its inception to become the backbone of open source monitoring and set industry standards for observability. With a community-driven approach and a massive growth in contributions, OpenTelemetry's success story is truly remarkable.

Only one label to improve your Kubernetes security posture, with the Pod Security Admission (PSA) — just do it!

Enhance your Kubernetes security posture with a single label using Pod Security Admission (PSA). By enforcing predefined Pod Security Standards, you can ensure safer deployments in your namespaces.

CNCF archives the Service Mesh Interface (SMI) project

Explore the CNCF's archival journey of the Service Mesh Interface (SMI) project. This journey reflects on how the project was initiated, its evolution, and the collaborative transition towards the GAMMA initiative under the Kubernetes SIG Network. This marks a new chapter in cloud-native service mesh technology and standardization.

Secure your Kubernetes environment with OPA and Gatekeeper

Fortify your Kubernetes environment with Open Policy Agent (OPA) and Gatekeeper for real-time policy enforcement, maintaining security, compliance, and optimal configuration.

Announcing the Kubernetes policy-based governance risk and compliance paper

The Kubernetes Policy Working Group has published a detailed paper on the benefits of Policy as Code. By automating governance, risk, and compliance processes within cloud native environments, businesses can effectively mitigate risks and ensure swift and secure delivery of modern applications across diverse infrastructures.

Recommended architectures for PostgreSQL in Kubernetes

Gabriele Bartolini shares his experiences and recommendations in running PostgreSQL on Kubernetes and the transformative journey that comes with it. He emphasizes the importance of the operator pattern and a forward-thinking approach to architecture in cloud native environments and multi-data center setups.

Join us for OSPOlogy Live North America on November 6! 

The event will take place in person at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America and virtually from 9:00 AM - 3:15 PM CST. Attendees will include legal experts and open source professionals within organizations (OSPOers). Together, they will set a common ground and secure space where both parties can engage in legal discussions.

Calling all end users interested in the intersection of legal and open source! 

TECH DIVE: IN-DEPTH TECHNICAL ARTICLES

The case for Rust on the web

Rust's exceptional efficiency and performance make it a popular choice for web development. It provides a solid alternative to traditional languages and paves the way for a new era of web backends. Mainmatter fully supports Rust's potential and encourages community engagement to explore its capabilities in the web and cloud spaces.

How Spotify achieved a voluntary 99% internal platform adoption rate

Spotify's success story of achieving a groundbreaking 99% internal platform adoption rate is fascinating. They attribute their success to a well-designed and user-centric platform called Backstage, which effectively manages and orchestrates diverse environments while alleviating the burden on developers.

Rust vs Go: A hands-on comparison

Join Shuttle on a hands-on comparison of Rust and Go in web development, where we will go beyond just syntax and build a real-world web service in both languages. This comparison aims to provide practical insights on handling typical web tasks, encouraging developers to make an informed choice based on the ease of use for non-trivial projects. It offers a fresh perspective amidst the prevalent Rust vs Go debate.

Storage challenges in the evolution of database architecture

Postman has had an exciting journey dealing with storage challenges while adapting to changing database architectures. They faced issues with sync service storage but devised an innovative three-step approach to overcome these hurdles. All this was done without compromising on essential platform functionalities or user experience. 

The top 7 software engineering workflow tips I wish I knew earlier 🧰

Here's a treasure trove of software engineering workflow tips curated from a seasoned engineer's personal experiences. These tips aim to improve your daily efficiency, streamline your Git and Terminal operations, and reveal innovative coding practices that can make every coding hour count towards your accelerated career growth and work-life balance.

How to communicate like a GitHub engineer: our principles, practices, and tools

GitHub has a unique communication ethos called "How we communicate." This ethos has been developed over time in their remote-first culture. The company has guidelines to manage internal chatter, ensuring clear and compelling communication.

How do databases execute expressions?

Explore how databases execute expressions by comprehensively examining different database methodologies. You will learn about the use of tree-walking interpreters and the use of stack or register-based virtual machines and just-in-time compilers in some databases. 

Extending NGINX with Rust (an alternative to C)

Join NGINX on an exciting journey as they explore the possibilities of Rust, a powerful alternative to C for extending NGINX. This story follows the NGX-Rust project, showcasing Rust's programming strengths while addressing modern developer security and performance concerns. The project invites the Rust community to contribute and grow alongside it.

BEHIND THE SCENES: PROCESS AND PEOPLE NEWS

DORA metrics: We’ve been using them wrong

Challenge conventional usage and broaden your perspective on DORA metrics. Let Dev Interrupted guide you toward a nuanced understanding that drives real engineering improvement and aligns with business outcomes. Discover alternative metrics that bridge the communication gap between engineering efforts and business value.

Turbulent times call for adaptive leadership

Embark on an enlightening journey of adaptive leadership can juxtapose adaptive leadership against directive and servant leadership styles, emphasizing the importance of self-reflection and adaptability.

My problem with the four-document model

An insightful critique of the Four-Document Model (4doc) used for user documentation. Explore how this model can be inadequate in catering to diverse documentation needs, especially in complex domains like frameworks and programming languages.

Anything but tech debt

Tech debt is a common issue that engineers face, which can take up a significant portion of their workload. Each type of work has its business value, and it is crucial to prioritize non-feature work, such as toolchain investments and reliability improvements. 

The cost of convenience

Delve into the intricate world of web development abstractions and discover how they can both help and hinder developers. This insightful piece explores the importance of having 'escape hatches' in frameworks, making a compelling case for thoughtful abstraction design.

Currencies (on motivating different people)

One effective way to motivate employees is to go beyond the traditional 'carrot and stick' approach. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are proven to be more effective. This approach draws insights from Frederick Herzberg's timeless research and Cohen & Bradford's innovative concept of 'currencies.' The ultimate goal is to develop a culture of genuine commitment rather than mere compliance.

Valve is a wonderful upstream contributor to Linux and the open source community

Valve is driving the open source ecosystem through its projects like Steam Deck and SteamOS. The Linux Foundation Europe's Open Source Summit has highlighted Valve's significant contributions in advancing Linux kernel features, graphics driver support, and more. Their commendable ethos of "upstreaming everything" reflects their collaborative effort towards improving the Linux and open source domains.

Hints for distributed systems design

A seasoned designer of distributed systems takes an introspective journey and revisits the timeless clues provided by Butler Lampson. The designer offers a fresh perspective on contemporary design challenges in distributed systems organized into functionality, performance, and fault tolerance.

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