app01 Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:42:36 +0000 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) GR-OSS OUT Podcast - Episodes Tagged with “Open Source Sustainability” https://podcast.gr-oss.io/tags/open%20source%20sustainability Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700 This podcast takes an honest and unvarnished look at the reality of contributing to open source software projects. Too often, the open source community can paint an idealized picture of seamless collaboration and frictionless progress. But the truth is, working on OSS projects can be challenging, messy, and at times, downright frustrating. From conflicting opinions and coding philosophies to project politics and ownership disputes, there are many potential pitfalls. That's why this podcast gives voice to the personal experiences of actual open source contributors and influencers. They'll share the unfiltered ups and downs they've faced working on real projects. You'll hear war stories of coding battles, community dramas, and those weekly agonizing pull request reviews. But it's not all horror stories! You'll also learn valuable lessons about persevering through challenges, building consensus, and ultimately creating robust open source software that delivers value. Guests will provide insights into cultivating positive OSS communities and effective collaboration processes. So whether you're a veteran open source participant or just getting started, this podcast will prepare you for the gritty realities and help you navigate the unusual situations that so often arise. Join us as we embrace the awkward, frustrating, and yes, even "gross" side of open source software development. It's a journey that every contributor needs to understand. en-us episodic G-Research Open Source Software Outreach podcast G-Research Open Source Software This podcast takes an honest and unvarnished look at the reality of contributing to open source software projects. Too often, the open source community can paint an idealized picture of seamless collaboration and frictionless progress. But the truth is, working on OSS projects can be challenging, messy, and at times, downright frustrating. From conflicting opinions and coding philosophies to project politics and ownership disputes, there are many potential pitfalls. That's why this podcast gives voice to the personal experiences of actual open source contributors and influencers. They'll share the unfiltered ups and downs they've faced working on real projects. You'll hear war stories of coding battles, community dramas, and those weekly agonizing pull request reviews. But it's not all horror stories! You'll also learn valuable lessons about persevering through challenges, building consensus, and ultimately creating robust open source software that delivers value. Guests will provide insights into cultivating positive OSS communities and effective collaboration processes. So whether you're a veteran open source participant or just getting started, this podcast will prepare you for the gritty realities and help you navigate the unusual situations that so often arise. Join us as we embrace the awkward, frustrating, and yes, even "gross" side of open source software development. It's a journey that every contributor needs to understand. no oss, open source, community, artificial intelligence, machine learning, python, software G-Research Open Source Software podcast@gr-oss.io Sustaining Apache Arrow and Parquet: The Arctos Alliance with Alex Scammon https://podcast.gr-oss.io/28-arctos-alliance 16943e9f-48dd-4c71-9a04-1d6b0168c7b7 Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700 G-Research Open Source Software full G-Research Open Source Software 48:36 no <p>What happens when a critical open source software (OSS) community faces losing many of its core maintainers? In this reprise episode, host Jay Faulkner talks with Alex Scammon, co-CEO of G-Research Open Source Software, about how the Apache Arrow and Apache Parquet community responded, and why G-Research helped create the Arctos Alliance, a community-funded nonprofit that employs engineers to support the ecosystem. They also dig into how artificial intelligence (AI) generated pull requests (PRs) are changing trust between contributors and maintainers.</p> <p><strong>Guest</strong><br> Alex Scammon, Co-CEO, G-Research Open Source Software (GR-OSS)</p> <p><strong>Host</strong><br> Jay Faulkner, GR-OSS Out Podcast</p> <p><strong>Topics discussed</strong></p> <ul> <li> Why Apache Arrow (in-memory columnar data format) and Apache Parquet (on-disk columnar file format) underpin modern data science, machine learning (ML), and AI tooling</li> <li> Why the Arctos Alliance is a community effort rather than one company’s project</li> <li> How a small independent team can keep a project’s direction from being shaped by a single company</li> <li> Halving Apache Arrow’s open issue count, from roughly 4,600 to about 2,200, and why issue tracker health matters to new contributors</li> <li> Work in progress on tensor types and encryption</li> <li> How AI-generated PRs are affecting maintainers, and why in-person community building matters more now, including a Delta Lake example</li> <li> A candid story about contributions reverted in Apache YuniKorn, and lessons on communication in open source communities</li> <li> Other projects G-Research has helped sustain: etcd, Apache Spark, Polars, and more</li> </ul> <p><strong>Links mentioned</strong></p> <ul> <li>Arctos Alliance - <a href="https://arctosalliance.org" rel="nofollow noopener">https://arctosalliance.org</a></li> <li>Apache Arrow - <a href="https://arrow.apache.org" rel="nofollow noopener">https://arrow.apache.org</a></li> <li>Parquet - <a href="https://parquet.apache.org" rel="nofollow noopener">https://parquet.apache.org</a></li> <li>G-Research - <a href="https://gresearch.com" rel="nofollow noopener">https://gresearch.com</a></li> </ul> <p>G-Research is hiring in Dallas, TX and London, UK! Apply at <a href="https://gresearch.com/vacancies" rel="nofollow noopener">https://gresearch.com/vacancies</a>.</p> <p>For a video version of this podcast, check out <a href="https://youtu.be/4sCJnYAfkXA" rel="nofollow noopener">https://youtu.be/4sCJnYAfkXA</a>.</p> <p>The GR-OSS OUT Podcast is produced by Ben Wiley.</p><p>Special Guest: Alexander Scammon.</p> Arctos Alliance, Apache Arrow, Apache Parquet, Alex Scammon, Jay Faulkner, open source sustainability, open source funding, open source nonprofit, open source maintainers, artificial intelligence pull requests, AI and open source, maintainer trust, open source community, columnar data format, data engineering, machine learning infrastructure, Delta Lake, Apache YuniKorn, etcd, Polars, Apache Spark, G-Research Open Source Software, open source software, developer podcast What happens when a critical open source software (OSS) community faces losing many of its core maintainers? In this reprise episode, host Jay Faulkner talks with Alex Scammon, co-CEO of G-Research Open Source Software, about how the Apache Arrow and Apache Parquet community responded, and why G-Research helped create the Arctos Alliance, a community-funded nonprofit that employs engineers to support the ecosystem. They also dig into how artificial intelligence (AI) generated pull requests (PRs) are changing trust between contributors and maintainers.

Guest
Alex Scammon, Co-CEO, G-Research Open Source Software (GR-OSS)

Host
Jay Faulkner, GR-OSS Out Podcast

Topics discussed

  • Why Apache Arrow (in-memory columnar data format) and Apache Parquet (on-disk columnar file format) underpin modern data science, machine learning (ML), and AI tooling
  • Why the Arctos Alliance is a community effort rather than one company’s project
  • How a small independent team can keep a project’s direction from being shaped by a single company
  • Halving Apache Arrow’s open issue count, from roughly 4,600 to about 2,200, and why issue tracker health matters to new contributors
  • Work in progress on tensor types and encryption
  • How AI-generated PRs are affecting maintainers, and why in-person community building matters more now, including a Delta Lake example
  • A candid story about contributions reverted in Apache YuniKorn, and lessons on communication in open source communities
  • Other projects G-Research has helped sustain: etcd, Apache Spark, Polars, and more

Links mentioned

G-Research is hiring in Dallas, TX and London, UK! Apply at https://gresearch.com/vacancies.

For a video version of this podcast, check out https://youtu.be/4sCJnYAfkXA.

The GR-OSS OUT Podcast is produced by Ben Wiley.

Special Guest: Alexander Scammon.

]]> What happens when a critical open source software (OSS) community faces losing many of its core maintainers? In this reprise episode, host Jay Faulkner talks with Alex Scammon, co-CEO of G-Research Open Source Software, about how the Apache Arrow and Apache Parquet community responded, and why G-Research helped create the Arctos Alliance, a community-funded nonprofit that employs engineers to support the ecosystem. They also dig into how artificial intelligence (AI) generated pull requests (PRs) are changing trust between contributors and maintainers.

Guest
Alex Scammon, Co-CEO, G-Research Open Source Software (GR-OSS)

Host
Jay Faulkner, GR-OSS Out Podcast

Topics discussed

  • Why Apache Arrow (in-memory columnar data format) and Apache Parquet (on-disk columnar file format) underpin modern data science, machine learning (ML), and AI tooling
  • Why the Arctos Alliance is a community effort rather than one company’s project
  • How a small independent team can keep a project’s direction from being shaped by a single company
  • Halving Apache Arrow’s open issue count, from roughly 4,600 to about 2,200, and why issue tracker health matters to new contributors
  • Work in progress on tensor types and encryption
  • How AI-generated PRs are affecting maintainers, and why in-person community building matters more now, including a Delta Lake example
  • A candid story about contributions reverted in Apache YuniKorn, and lessons on communication in open source communities
  • Other projects G-Research has helped sustain: etcd, Apache Spark, Polars, and more

Links mentioned

G-Research is hiring in Dallas, TX and London, UK! Apply at https://gresearch.com/vacancies.

For a video version of this podcast, check out https://youtu.be/4sCJnYAfkXA.

The GR-OSS OUT Podcast is produced by Ben Wiley.

Special Guest: Alexander Scammon.

]]> Who Gets to Define Open Source AI? with Nick Vidal https://podcast.gr-oss.io/21-who-defines-open-source-ai dce76456-82ec-4608-b7f0-b8ff70ac465a Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:00:00 -0700 G-Research Open Source Software full G-Research Open Source Software Nick Vidal, Community Manager at the Open Source Initiative (OSI), joins host Tabitha DiDomenico to discuss one of the hardest questions in open source right now: what does Open Source AI actually mean, and who gets to decide? 47:25 no <p>Nick Vidal, Community Manager at the Open Source Initiative (OSI), joins host Tabitha to discuss one of the hardest questions in open source right now: what does Open Source AI actually mean, and who gets to decide?</p> <p>At the center of it all is the OSI's effort to build community consensus around a definition that satisfies both developers and data scientists — two groups who don't always see eye to eye. Nick also shares what more than 50 maintainer stories revealed about the state of open source health, including the rise of AI-generated noise flooding maintainer workflows, the pressure of legislation like the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and why one prominent maintainer published a piece titled "We Don't Owe You Anything."</p> <p>Nick reflects on his journey from organizing Drupal communities across Latin America to working at the heart of open source policy, and why bringing diverse cultural perspectives into open source development is how the best ideas actually get discovered.</p> <p>Topics include the Open Source AI Definition, maintainer burnout, the Maintainers book at maintainers.rs, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, software freedom, and the human side of open source sustainability.</p> <p>G-Research is hiring in Dallas, TX and London, UK! Apply at <a href="https://gresearch.com/vacancies" rel="nofollow noopener">https://gresearch.com/vacancies</a>.</p> <p>For a video version of this podcast, check out <a href="https://youtu.be/7irm9Wt7aEM" rel="nofollow noopener">https://youtu.be/7irm9Wt7aEM</a>.</p> <p>The GR-OSS OUT Podcast is produced by Ben Wiley.</p><p>Special Guest: Nick Vidal.</p> oss, open source, open source ai, open source initiative, OSI, open source definition, cyber resilience act, open source governance, open source policy, Nick Vidal, Community Manager at the Open Source Initiative (OSI), joins host Tabitha to discuss one of the hardest questions in open source right now: what does Open Source AI actually mean, and who gets to decide?

At the center of it all is the OSI's effort to build community consensus around a definition that satisfies both developers and data scientists — two groups who don't always see eye to eye. Nick also shares what more than 50 maintainer stories revealed about the state of open source health, including the rise of AI-generated noise flooding maintainer workflows, the pressure of legislation like the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and why one prominent maintainer published a piece titled "We Don't Owe You Anything."

Nick reflects on his journey from organizing Drupal communities across Latin America to working at the heart of open source policy, and why bringing diverse cultural perspectives into open source development is how the best ideas actually get discovered.

Topics include the Open Source AI Definition, maintainer burnout, the Maintainers book at maintainers.rs, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, software freedom, and the human side of open source sustainability.

G-Research is hiring in Dallas, TX and London, UK! Apply at https://gresearch.com/vacancies.

For a video version of this podcast, check out https://youtu.be/7irm9Wt7aEM.

The GR-OSS OUT Podcast is produced by Ben Wiley.

Special Guest: Nick Vidal.

]]> Nick Vidal, Community Manager at the Open Source Initiative (OSI), joins host Tabitha to discuss one of the hardest questions in open source right now: what does Open Source AI actually mean, and who gets to decide?

At the center of it all is the OSI's effort to build community consensus around a definition that satisfies both developers and data scientists — two groups who don't always see eye to eye. Nick also shares what more than 50 maintainer stories revealed about the state of open source health, including the rise of AI-generated noise flooding maintainer workflows, the pressure of legislation like the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and why one prominent maintainer published a piece titled "We Don't Owe You Anything."

Nick reflects on his journey from organizing Drupal communities across Latin America to working at the heart of open source policy, and why bringing diverse cultural perspectives into open source development is how the best ideas actually get discovered.

Topics include the Open Source AI Definition, maintainer burnout, the Maintainers book at maintainers.rs, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, software freedom, and the human side of open source sustainability.

G-Research is hiring in Dallas, TX and London, UK! Apply at https://gresearch.com/vacancies.

For a video version of this podcast, check out https://youtu.be/7irm9Wt7aEM.

The GR-OSS OUT Podcast is produced by Ben Wiley.

Special Guest: Nick Vidal.

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