Hi Reader, In this episode, I sit down with Carl Richell from System76 to talk all things Linux. Carl is the guy that Michael Dell called for advice when Dell ventured into the Linux on the desktop world. They've done Linux on the desktop longer than anyone (and they are our new hardware vendor for Screenly). Why does this matter? I want kids, teachers, makers, and pros to have computers they can trust and fix. Carl Richell, the founder of System76, shows how open firmware and open hardware...
24 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, This week we talk about remote work and how it has shaped the world in a post-COVID world. As someone who as worked remotely for over 15 years, I just can't imagine commuting into an office every day. And I'm not alone. COVID was the catalyst that to normalized remote work for the masses. Why does this matter? Big names just doubled down on office life. Amazon and Dell now want folks at their desks five days a week. (reuters.com, reuters.com) Remote roles are scarce but hot. Only...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, My new episode of Nerding Out with Viktor just dropped, and it is a good one. I sat down with engineer and Web3 builder Vlad Trifa to cut through the hype and talk about what crypto, blockchain, and the Internet of Things really mean for us right now. Why does this matter? Trust you can check. Vlad says blockchains are “finger pointing as a service,” a shared ledger where everyone can see who did what and when. That keeps companies honest and data clean. Real-world use. From...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Last time, we talked about Yocto and how it gives you full control over your Linux stack, from the kernel up. But owning the OS is only half the story. LogoFAIL and PixieFAIL made this brutally clear. These BIOS-level bugs hit hundreds, if not thousands, of device models across vendors like Lenovo, Acer, and Intel. They slipped in before the OS even booted and to this day, many vendors still haven’t patched them. Why this matters “The vendor’s key is fused. The customer can’t do...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, As someone who has managed IoT devices at scale at Screenly, I wish I knew what I know now when I first started. Learning about Yocto early on would have saved me a lot of pain. That’s what this episode is about." “This is why I wanted to do an episode on Yocto: to save people the time and agony we wasted trying to solve this ourselves.” Why this matters Here’s the common story. You build a prototype on a Raspberry Pi (or similar). It works. Maybe you launch a Kickstarter. You get...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, In this episode, I'm doing a mega-recap, focused on SBOMs (Software Bills of Materials). Over three podcast episodes, I've been honored to talk to some of the biggest names in the SBOM community about why SBOMs matter, what’s driving interest right now, and how they can help us make software safer and more trustworthy “Software Bill of Materials is the radical notion that we should actually know what’s in our software.” - Allan Friedman of CISA, known as the father of SBOM I...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, When we featured Earthly last week, we never imagined they’d unveil a major pivot just days later. This week we’re diving into the startup world with my good friend Kevin Henrikson, talking about how to build and scale engineering teams. We cover everything from the early days of open‑source at Zimbra, to successful exits, to designing systems that last. Why does this matter? Kevin has founded and sold several companies, including Accompli, later rebranded as Outlook Mobile after...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, The CI/CD landscape is changing. This week we're unpacking this with the founder of Earthly. Why This Matters In my latest episode, I sit down with Vlad A Ionescu, the founder of Earthly. Earthly is changing how teams build and deliver code. They have almost 12,000 stars on GitHub, plus customers like Adobe, Intel, VMWare, and Zapier. That tells me they're onto something big. Why Now There's a major shift happening in CI/CD. Tools like Earthly and Dagger let developers run entire...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome to the Nerding out with Viktor newsletter. In today's episode we'll dive into the hot bed that is tech sovereignty. Why This MattersThis episode is on why digital sovereignty is so important. Europe relies on foreign tech companies for cloud, data, and software. That can be risky if a big provider ever shuts off access or raises prices. By focusing on local startups, stricter EU laws like the Digital Markets Act, and homegrown cloud services, Europe can stay in control and...
3 months ago • 1 min read
