Screaming in the Cloud

Corey Quinn is joined by Paulus Schoutsen, creator of Home Assistant and president of the Open Home Foundation. What started as a Python script to control Hue lights is now a leading open-source smart home platform with 1.6M users. Unlike ad-driven devices, Home Assistant prioritizes privacy, user control, and customization. Backed by the Open Home Foundation, it stays independent from corporate influence. Paulus highlights their community-driven approach, with users sharing automations online. By focusing on open standards, privacy, and user-first development, Home Assistant empowers smarter, more sustainable home automation.

Show Highlights

(0:00) Intro

(0:33) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:45) What inspired Paulus to create Home Assistant

(6:54) How Home Assistant developed from text files to its current incarnation

(12:02) Duckbill Group sponsor read

(13:42) How Home Assistant is able to detect different IoT devices

(16:06) Why not having investors is a strength for Home Assistant

(21:11) How Home Assistant acts as a unifier for communications protocols

(24:22) Why Big Tech doesn’t have a lot of interest in Home Assistant

(30:45) How to learn more about Home Assistant  

About Paulus Schoutsen

Paulus Schoutsen is the creator of Home Assistant, the world’s most active open-source smart home platform, and president of the Open Home Foundation. What started as a Python script to control Philips Hue lights has grown into a global community of over 1.6 million users. Home Assistant stands out for its dedication to privacy, sustainability, and user control, offering a stable, customizable platform free from the ad-driven models of big tech. Paulus also leads Nabucasa, the commercial arm of Home Assistant, and champions the platform’s independence and community-driven ethos, ensuring long-term focus on open standards and user empowerment.

Links

• Home Assistant website https://www.home-assistant.io/

Sponsor

The Duckbill Group https://www.duckbillgroup.com/

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Tobi Knaup, the current VP & General Manager of Cloud Native at Nutanix. At the time this first aired, Tobi was the co-founder and CTO of D2iQ before the company was acquired by Nutanix. In this blast from the past, Corey and Tobi discuss why Mesosphere rebranded as D2iQ and why the Kubernetes community deserves the credit for the widespread adoption of the container orchestration platform. Many people assume Kubernetes is all they need, but that’s a mistake, and Tobi explains what other tools they end up having to use. We’ll also hear why Tobi thinks that multi-cloud is the future (it is the title of the episode after all).

Show Highlights

(0:00) Intro

(0:28) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:01) Memosphere rebranding to D2iQ

(4:34) The strength of the Kubernetes community

(7:43) Is open-source a bad business model?

(10:19) Why you need more than just Kubernetes

(13:13) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(13:55) Is multi-cloud the best practice?

(17:31) Creating a consistent experience between two providers

(19:05) Tobi’s background story

(24:24) Memories of the days of physical data centers

(28:00) How long will Kubernetes be relevant

(30:18) Where you can find more from Tobi

About Tobi Knaup

Tobi Knaup is the VP & General Manager of Cloud Native at Nunatix. Previously, he was the Co-Founder and CTO of D2iQ Kubernetes Platform before Nutanix acquired the company. Knaup is an experienced software engineer focusing on large scale systems and machine learning. Tobi’s research work is on Internet-scale sentiment analysis using online knowledge, linguistic analysis, and machine learning. Outside of his tech work, he enjoys making cocktails and has collected his favorite recipes on his cocktail website.

Links

• Tobi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/superguenter
• LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiasknaup/
• Personal site: https://tobi.knaup.me/

Original Episode

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/multi-cloud-is-the-future-with-tobi-knaup/

Sponsor

The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com 

Spencer Kimball, CEO of Cockroach Labs, joins Corey Quinn to discuss the evolving challenges of database resilience in 2025. They discuss the State of Resilience 2025 report, revealing widespread operational concerns, costly outages, and gaps in failover preparedness. Modern resilience strategies, like active-active configurations and consensus replication, reduce risks but require expertise and investment. Spencer highlights growing regulatory pressures, such as the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act, and the rising complexity of distributed systems. Despite challenges, Cockroach Labs aims to simplify resilience, enabling organizations to modernize while balancing risk, cost, and customer trust.

Show Highlights

(0:00) Intro

(0:36) Cockroach Labs sponsor read

(3:14) The foundational nature of databases

(3:55) Cockroach Labs’ State of Resilience 2025 report

(8:55) CrowdStrike as an example of why database resilience is so important

(11:04) What Spencer found most surprising in the report’s results

(15:13) Understanding the multi-cloud strategy as safety in numbers

(18:29) Cockroach Labs sponsor read

(19:23) Why cost isn’t the Achilles’ heel of the multi-cloud strategy that some people think

(23:52) Executives are blaming IT people for outages as much

(28:21) The importance of active-active configurations

(32:01) Why anxiety about operational resiliency will never fully go away

(37:52) How to access the State of Resilience 2025 report

About Spencer Kimball

Spencer Kimball is the CEO and co-founder of Cockroach Labs, a company dedicated to building resilient, cloud-native databases. Before founding Cockroach Labs, Spencer had a distinguished career in technology, including contributions to Google’s Colossus file system. Alongside co-founders Peter Mattis and Ben Darnell, he launched CockroachDB, a globally distributed SQL database designed to handle modern data challenges like resilience, multi-cloud deployment, and compliance with evolving data sovereignty laws. CockroachDB is renowned for its innovative architecture, enabling consistent and scalable database performance across regions and clouds. Under Spencer’s leadership, the company continues to redefine operational resilience for enterprises worldwide.

Links

• Cockroach Labs: https://www.cockroachlabs.com/
• The State of Resilience 2025 report https://www.cockroachlabs.com/guides/the-state-of-resilience-2025/

Sponsor
Cockroach Labs: cockroachlabs.com/lastweek

On this Screaming in the Cloud In this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Corey Quinn is joined by AWS container hero and security engineer at the Python Software Foundation, Mike Fiedler. They delve into the intricacies of Python's ecosystem, discussing the evolution of PyPI, its significance, and the ongoing battles against security threats like account takeover attacks and typo-squatting. Mike sheds light on his role in maintaining the security and reliability of the Python Package Index, the importance of 2FA, and the collaborative efforts with security researchers. Corey and Mike also explore the challenges and philosophies surrounding legacy systems versus greenfield development, with insights on maintaining critical infrastructure and the often-overlooked aspects of social engineering.

Show Highlights

(0:00) Introduction

(0:47) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:21) Breaking down the Python nomenclature and its usability

(5:49) Figuring out how Boto3 is one of the most downloaded packages

(6:43) Why Mike is the only full-time security and safety engineer at the Python Software Foundation

(9:53) How the Python Software Foundation affords to operate

(14:17) Mike's stack security work

(16:14) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(16:57) Having the "impossible job" of stopping supply chain attacks

(21:00) The dangers of social engineering attacks

(24:44) Why Mike prefers to work on legacy systems

(33:30) Where you can find more from Mike

About Mike Fiedler

Mike Fiedler is a highly analytical, forward-thinking Information Technology professional. His broad-based background includes systems administration and engineering in global environments. Mike is technically astute and versatile with ability to quickly learn, master, and leverage new technologies to meet business needs and has a track record of success in improving performance, stability, and security for all infrastructure and product initiatives.

Mike is also bilingual, speaks English and Hebrew, and he loves solving puzzling problems.

Links

• Mike’s Mastadon: https://hachyderm.io/@miketheman
• Mike’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/miketheman.com
• Mike’s Python Software Foundation blog posts: https://blog.pypi.org/
• The Python Package Index Safety & Security Engineer: First Year in Review: https://blog.pypi.org/posts/2024-08-16-safety-and-security-engineer-year-in-review/

Sponsor

The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com 

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Co-Founder of Senzo, Ant Stanley. Ant sits down with Corey to do so. He offers up his history which has lead to his time as “Serverless Hero” to landing on the line that “serverless sucks.” Lend us your ears to see how that transition happened! Ant goes into detail on JeffConf (not the of the Bezos nomen), and working with servers and what to put where and why. Ant and Corey talk over the plague of AWS services where Ant offers his perspective how to trim the fat and keep things simple to make long-term objectives more attainable. They discuss the importance of training, the role of certifications for better and worse, and more. Tune in for his take!

Show Highlights

• (0:00) Intro
• (0:51) Duckbill Group sponsor read
• (1:24) What does it mean to be an AWS Serverless Hero?
• (3:13) Why Ant and Corey are critical of the state of serverless
• (7:53) Woes with Lambda and CloudFront
• (10:12) The never-ending stream of new AWS services
• (13:36) Hurdles ahead of going serverless
• (17:33) Struggles of getting customers to understand a newly built service
• (21:31) Duckbill Group sponsor read
• (22:14) Pros and cons of certifications
• (32:17) Where you can find more from Ant

About Ant Stanley

Ant Stanley is a community focused technologist with a passion for enabling better outcomes for society through technology. He is an AWS Serverless Hero, runs the Serverless London User Group, co-runs ServerlessDays London and is part of the ServerlessDays Global team. 

Links

• A Cloud Guru: https://acloudguru.com
• homeschool.dev: https://homeschool.dev
• aws.training: https://aws.training
• learn.microsoft.com: https://learn.microsoft.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamstan

Original Episode

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/serverless-hero-got-servers-in-his-eyes-with-ant-stanley/

Sponsor

The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com 

Eric Carter of Sysdig joins Corey to tackle the evolving landscape of cloud security, particularly in AWS environments. As attackers leverage automation to strike within minutes, Sysdig focuses on real-time threat detection and rapid response. Tools like Runtime Insights and open-source Falco help teams identify and mitigate misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and stealthy attacks, while Kubernetes aids in limiting lateral movement. Eric introduced the “10-minute benchmark” for defense, combining automation and human oversight. Adapting to constant change, Sysdig integrates frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to stay ahead of threats. Corey and Eric also discuss Sysdig’s conversational AI security analyst, which simplifies decision-making.

Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:32) Sysdig sponsor read
(0:51) What they do at Sysdig
(3:28) When you need a human in the loop vs when AI is useful
(5:12) How AI may affect career progression for cloud security analysts
(8:18) The importance of security for AI
(12:18) Sysdig sponsor read
(12:39) Security practices in AWS
(15:19) How Sysdig’s security reports have shaped Corey’s thinking
(18:10) Where the cloud security industry is headed
(20:03) Cloud security increasingly feeling like an arms race between attackers and defenders
(23:33) Frustrations with properly configuring leased permissions
(28:17) How to keep up with Eric and Sysdig

About Eric Carter
Eric is an AWS Cloud Partner Advocate focused on cultivating Sysdig’s technology cloud and container partner ecosystem. Eric has spearheaded marketing efforts for enterprise technology solutions across various domains, such as security, monitoring, storage, and backup. He is passionate about working with Sysdig's alliance partners, and outside of work, enjoys performing as a guitarist in local cover bands.

Links

• Sysdig's website: https://sysdig.com/
• Sysdig's AWS Cloud Security: https://sysdig.com/ecosystem/aws/
• Sysdig’s 5 Steps to Securing AWS Cloud Infrastructure: https://sysdig.com/content/c/pf-5-steps-to-securing-aws-cloud-infrastructure?x=Xx8NSJ

Sponsor

Sysdig: https://www.sysdig.com 

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, Corey is joined by John Allspaw, Founder/Principal at Adaptive Capacity Labs. John was foundational in the DevOps movement, but he’s continued to bring much more to the table. He’s written multiple books and seems to always be at the forefront. Which is why he is now at Adaptive Capacity Labs. John tells us what exactly Adaptive Capacity Labs does and how it works and how he convinced some heroes to get behind it. John brings a much-needed insight into how to get multiple people in an organization on the same level when it comes to dealing with incidents. Engineers and non. John points out the issues surrounding public vs. private write-ups and the roadblocks they may prop up. Adaptive Capacity Labs is working towards bringing those roadblocks down, tune in for how!

Show Highlights

(0:00) Introduction

(0:59) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(1:33) What is Adaptive Capacity Labs and the work that they do?

(3:00) How to effectively learn from incidents

(7:33) What is the root of confusion in incident analysis

(13:20) Identifying if an organization has truly learned from their incidents

(18:23) Gitpod sponsor read

(19:35) Adaptive Capacity Lab’s reputation for positively shifting company culture

(24:22) What the tech industry is missing when it comes to learning effectively from the incidents

(28:44) Where you can find more from John and Adaptive Capacity Labs

About John Allspaw

John Allspaw has worked in software systems engineering and operations for over twenty years in many different environments. John’s publications include the books The Art of Capacity Planning (2009) and Web Operations (2010) as well as the forward to “The DevOps Handbook.”  His 2009 Velocity talk with Paul Hammond, “10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation” helped start the DevOps movement.

John served as CTO at Etsy, and holds an MSc in Human Factors and Systems Safety from Lund University

Links

• The Art of Capacity Planning: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Capacity-Planning-Scaling-Resources/dp/1491939206/
• Web Operations: https://www.amazon.com/Web-Operations-Keeping-Data-Time/dp/1449377440/
• The DevOps Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/DevOps-Handbook-World-Class-Reliability-Organizations/dp/1942788002/
• Adaptive Capacity Labs: https://www.adaptivecapacitylabs.com
• John Allspaw Twitter: https://twitter.com/allspaw
• Richard Cook Twitter: https://twitter.com/ri_cook
• Dave Woods Twitter: https://twitter.com/ddwoods2

Original Episode

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/finding-a-common-language-for-incidents-with-john-allspaw/

Sponsors

The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com 

Gitpod: http://www.gitpod.io/

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Michael Garski, the director of software engineering at famed electrical guitar manufacturer, Fender. Prior to this position, he worked as a principal software architect at Viant, a principal software architect at MySpace, a manager of internet development at Countrywide Financial, and a manager of system architecture at Fandango, among other positions. He also had a four-year stint in the US Navy, working as an engineering laboratory technician. Join Corey and Michael as they talk about how artists are angels and Fender’s job is to give them wings, how Fender has diversified its offerings in recent years, how serverless is a mindset and how Fender approach serverless technology, how Fender’s traffic surged during the pandemic and how everything mostly scaled up without a hitch, the challenges of teaching students to play instruments over the internet, the vendor lock-in boogeyman, and more.

Show Highlights

(0:00) Introduction

(0:42) Dragonfly sponsor read

(1:25) How does Michael describe Fender’s work

(2:08) Fender’s work to go serverless

(4:13) The impact of COVID on Fender

(6:19) Explaining Fender Play and how it works on the backend

(9:44) Working with MediaConvert

(11:30) Experiences with scaling and hitting AWS service limits

(12:52) Why Michael prefers working on the customer side

(15:33) The Duckbill Group sponsor read

(16:15) Frustrations with gateways and third-party apps

(19:03) Managing a massive influx of users during COVID

(21:13) The vendor lock-in boogeyman

(23:19) Cloud costs vs. saving time

(24:49) Walking the fine line of criticism as a director

(28:09) Enforcing consistency across services

(31:52) Where you can find more from Michael

About Michael Garski

Michael Garski has worked in the Los Angeles tech industry for over 20 years, across companies including Fandango, Countrywide Home Loans, MySpace, Viant, and is currently at Fender Musical Instruments as the Director of Platform engineering were he leads the devops, data, and api engineering teams. His focus currently is on building the platform to support the consumer facing digital products for Fender. The most prominent application he supports is Fender Play, a web and mobile application that provides video-based instruction for guitar, bass, and ukulele for more than a quarter-million subscribers.

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgarski/

Original Episode

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/keep-on-rockin-in-the-server-free-world/

Sponsors

Dragonfly: dragonflydb.io

The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com 

Whether remote or local, Gitpod Co-Founder and CTO Chris Weichel thinks there’s a clear benefit to standardizing automated development environments. On this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Chris joins Corey to chat about the inception and progression of Gitpod, highlighting the company’s mission to streamline development workflows, improve security, and enhance developer productivity. They also discuss the hurdles and solutions that come with balancing organizational standardization with individual developer preferences. You’ll also get the inside scoop on why Gitpod is transitioning away from Kubernetes and the innovative aspects of Gitpod Flex!

Show Highlights

(0:00) Introduction

(0:27) Gitpod sponsor read

(1:39) What is Gitpod in the modern era?

(3:07) The debate of local vs. remote development

(4:57) Explaining Gitpod's target customers

(9:36) Clarifying Corey's misconceptions about Gitpod

(12:42) Building between developer environments

(15:23) Is something inherently bad if your employer forces you to use it 

(17:49) Gitpod sponsor read

(19:01) Deploying local development tools at large scale

(21:16) Launching Gitpod Flex

(22:54) Creating a separate product based on feedback

(24:58) Gitpod's decision to leave Kubernetes

(28:16) Where you can find more from Chris and Gitpod

About Chris Weichel

Chris Weichel is the Chief Technology Officer at Gitpod, where he leads the engineering team that builds and maintains the cloud-native platform for software development. With over 20 years of experience in software engineering and human-computer interaction, he has a comprehensive view of the systems Gitpod creates, from the user experience to the underlying technology.

Chris is passionate about creating technology that empowers users, and solving complex engineering problems. His expertise in cloud-native architecture, programming, and digital fabrication has resulted in multiple publications, patents, and awards. Chris is always looking for new opportunities to apply my broad skill-set and excitement for creating technology in a commercial or research context.

Links

• Chris’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-weichel-740b4224/
• Chris’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/csweichel
• Gitpod: https://www.gitpod.io/
• Why Gitpod is leaving Kubernetes: https://www.gitpod.io/blog/we-are-leaving-kubernetes

Sponsor

• Gitpod: https://www.gitpod.io/

Before cloud economics entered his life, Corey’s first true love was a good book. On this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, he’s joined by Laura Brief, the CEO of nonprofit 826 National. The organization is the largest youth writing network in the country, something that’s near and dear to our hearts at The Duckbill Group. Corey and Laura talk about why having a deep appreciation for reading and writing is vital no matter what career path you take. From offering a creative escape for kids to moonlighting as a “pirate supply company,” 826 National helps children realize that there’s an author inside all of us. So check out this great conversation, and be sure to buy one of our shirts while you’re at it!

Show Highlights

(0:00) Introduction

(1:02) Gitpod sponsor read

(2:14) The Duckbill Group's history working with 826 National

(3:01) What is 826 National?

(4:43) Corey's love of reading, writing, and how it correlates with 826 National's mission

(10:11) The rise of ChatGPT and its impact on reading and writing

(13:49) Why GenAI fails to capture the feeling of writing

(22:30) Why writing education is important

(24:54) The benefits of reading and writing for kids

(31:39) 826 Valencia: the Pirate Supply Company

(35:24) Buy a shirt benefiting 826 National!

(37:15) Where you can find more from Laura Brief and 826 National

About Laura Brief

Laura Brief is the CEO of 826 National. Prior to joining the nonprofit, Laura held leadership positions at high achieving youth organizations including Build, First Graduate, Juma Ventures, and The Posse Foundation, where she developed the organization’s first national career, corporate engagement, and alumni programs. She holds a Master’s in Education and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University, and is the Chair of the Board of Directors at Youth Speaks.

Links

• 826 National: https://826national.org/
• Reach out to Laura: [email protected] 
• Buy our charity shirt to help support 826 National: shitposting.fashion

Sponsor

Gitpod: gitpod.io