October 30, 2025

Why Open Source Might Be Your Best Career Move w/ Shruti Kapoor

43 minutes

Recorded at All Things Open 2025, Robbie Wagner and guest co-host Jason Lengstorf chat with developer-turned-creator Shruti Kapoor about her leap from Slack and PayPal to YouTube, the joys and pitfalls of open source, and eternal web dev debates.

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:37) - Wine rating & review: Fre Sparkling Brut

(06:33) - Hot Take: git rebase vs. git merge

(09:11) - Hot Take: Is HTML a programming language?

(09:41) - Hot Take: Is CSS a programming language?

(10:20) - Hot take: classes vs. functional components

(11:13) - Hot Take: Remix, TanStack, or Next.js?

(15:02) - Hot Take: console.log vs debugger

(16:11) - Hot Take: Were React server components a mistake?

(20:42) - How open source changed Shruti’s career

(22:23) - The real value of contributing to open source

(26:05) - What is the React Foundation and why it matters

(28:58) - Highlights from React Conf and new features

(31:01) - From Slack engineer to independent creator

(34:34) - Choosing what content to make (and why)

(37:58) - Shruti’s dog, discipline, and life lessons

(40:01) - What would Shruti do if not in tech?

(40:30) - Where to find Shruti online

Links

Fre Sparkling Brut: https://www.frewines.com/

Wes Bos: https://wesbos.com/

Syntax: https://syntax.fm/

Slack: https://slack.com/

PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com

React: https://react.dev/

JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript

HTML: https://www.w3schools.com/html/

CSS: https://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

Ember: https://emberjs.com/

TanStack: https://tanstack.com/

Next.js: https://nextjs.org/

Remix: https://remix.run/

Astro: https://astro.build/

VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/

All Things Open: https://allthingsopen.org/

GitHub: https://github.com/

React Conf: https://conf.react.dev/

React Foundation: https://react.dev/blog/2025/10/07/introducing-the-react-foundation

Linux Foundation: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/

Vercel: https://vercel.com/

Google Home: https://home.google.com/welcome/

Primeagen: https://x.com/ThePrimeagen

ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/

MCP: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/

Shruti's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@shrutikapoor08

16 Common React useEffect Mistakes You’re Making: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGOPO2V6MHI

Connect with Jason

Website: https://jason.energy/

X / Twitter: https://x.com/jlengstorf

Connect with Shruti

Website: https://shrutikapoor.dev/

X / Twitter: https://x.com/shrutikapoor08

Connect with the hosts

Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner

Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd

Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink

Subscribe and stay in touch

Website: https://whiskey.fm

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603

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Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot

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