KubeCon Special Episode: Changing Culture with Software with Cole Kennedy

The Business of Open Source

This week on the Business of Open Source, I have an episode recorded on-site at KubeCon SLC last month with Cole Kennedy, co-founder of TestifySec. We kicked off the conversation with a discussion about software development practices in the US Department of Defense and the US government at large — and the challenges involved with deploying quickly and frequently when you have to keep things both compliant and security.

Here are some of the take aways from the conversation:

• Why TestifySec decided to donate Archivista and Witness, their two open source projects, to the CNCF — in particular, because they don’t see their business model as directly monetizing either.
• How they monetize with a SaaS platform instead
• “Founder-market fit” — Cole used to work as a developer for the Department of Defense, and that gives him a unique perspective on the needs and pain points specific to defense organizations.
• Changing culture with software. During our conversation, it really struck me that a lot of the problems around compliance are organizational culture problems, not just software problems. How do you use software to change culture?
• The main advantage of open source, Cole says, is the feedback loop you get with your users, including people using the software in ways you never thought possible.

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