Archives

A few themes to this week’s news are worth discussing here in the newsletter’s introduction to give folks a clearer picture of each topic. We’ll tackle them in the same People, Process, and Tools format DevOps’ish uses (which are the three core components of DevOps, in order of importance). Surprisingly, I have to explain the Tools section of the news the most because it involves one of the world’s most toxic companies, Docker. I want to take this moment to remind folks about this site’s disclaimer. Google’s firing of Timnit Gebru Google continues to display lousy behavior towards people who highlight what it’s doing wrong, potentially to the detriment of the entire planet. Google fired Timnit Gebru for an email (which isn’t unheard of), but it’s a fact she found flaws in large language models, which are a big part of Google’s operating model could hurt people. The concern is around the staggering impact on the environment and economics of large language models. ...

There is usually a lot of hype surrounding Apple announcements. The recent report of Apple starting to build Macs with their own ARM-based silicon is no exception. But, there’s some meat to this hype; let me explain. It wasn’t long ago that my iPhone 8 Plus with its A11 Bionic chip could leave my MacBook Air I was using as a daily driver in the dust. The ARM-based phone you’re carrying around (Apple or otherwise) probably has more computing power than the entire Apollo space program. In 2017, I was linked up with Edward Vielmetti of Works on ARM fame. I was already tinkering and building Kubernetes clusters with Raspberry Pis. Ed validated my thinking and while it’s going to be quite some time before we’re all running ARM chips, that day is coming. I saw ARM as a fine alternative thanks to modern languages multiarch compilers (may The Maker bless Go). But there was always a cross-compilation tax for users. But, it was a one-time task if you were smart about things. ...

Saturday morning, I awoke at 5 AM to pain and an awful headache. I know this headache well; it was a headache from looking at a computer screen too much (after 25 years in the industry, I rarely get these). It was the headache of sitting down before 8:30 AM on Friday, the next time you look up it’s almost 2 PM, and you’ve crossed one thing off your list. Friday was the last day of KubeCon. I thought I was actually going to be able to participate, but life had different plans. Saturday morning, I realized that the idea of an in real life (IRL) event being “lift and shift” into a virtual platform is something I no longer want to signup to attend. A simple statement like, “KubeCon was my last virtual event. We need a better way.” was needed. Please note, I’m still going to speak at any event I’m invited to (and can manage with schedule and everything). But, I’m no longer going to be part of a vast statistic of folks that don’t show after registering to attend an event. This is by no means a knock on KubeCon. They had a lot of things that made a conference good. ...

This week has been quite a blur. Working backward (literally and figuratively), we’re re-entering lockdown as a household again. A visit with my pain management doctor on Thursday in which he told me the hospital we both live near has seen COVID-19 admissions double this week pushed things very front of mind. A statement from our state’s governor on Thursday put things into motion towards lockdown (which she can no longer mandate thanks to our state legislature passing a law preventing her from doing so; nuts, I know). With lots of data in hand, we made the hard decision Thursday night. I know the readers in European nations (and probably elsewhere) are wondering, “How weren’t you in lockdown sooner?!?” Well, there’s not a state-level or national-level mandate to do so. We’re flying blind here in the US, and each household has to make its own decision. This is why we’re in the situation we’re in (again). But, Max took it in stride, saying that he’d still be able to see his friends on Zoom, with enthusiasm. Our kids are so resilient. But, I am concerned about the long term effects of all the tumult and how it will affect our kids in the long-term. ...

As written for my website, a version of which is also here. I woke Sunday morning to some very sad news. We’ve had a tragic loss in the cloud native community. Last weekend we lost Dan Kohn. Dan Kohn is the former Executive Director of Cloud Native Computing Foundation and was leading up COVID-19 response for the Linux Foundation. He passed away after losing his battle with stage four colon cancer. Dan’s passing happened far too soon. I knew Dan was battling something, but we hadn’t been in the same place for quite some time. It’s not one of those things you necessarily want to initiate a conversation about either. I did not know of Dan’s blog about it until he was gone. I would encourage all of us to look at our physical ailments as we age (perhaps more rapidly because of 2020) to take care of ourselves. To Dan’s family and his kids, we are here. I’m very sorry for your loss. Our condolences go out to you on behalf of the cloud native community. We are very sorry, and we’re here to let you know that we will be there as you need us. Please do not hesitate to reach out, reach out to me if you need anything at all. ...