The Kernel, with Obsidian
Series Overview — The Kernel, with Obsidian
Welcome to The Kernel — the podcast where we dig into the crunchy, complicated, occasionally chaotic world of enterprise tech… and try not to set anything on fire.
Across eight episodes, we chat to CEOs, engineers, open source evangelists, and the folks who actually fix things at 2 AM. Expect bold opinions, war stories, strong coffee energy, and the kind of honesty you never get in vendor webinars.
We’ll unpack why open source took over the world, why silos still exist (even though everyone swears they’re “cross-functional”), how cloud works in Africa when the internet sometimes doesn’t, and what happens when AI tries to “help” but instead rearranges your entire Jira board.
If you like real conversations, clever insights, and jokes only sysadmins will laugh at… you’re in the right place.
The Kernel — let’s get to the root of it.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 16, 2025
Tuesday Dec 16, 2025
The Kernel, with Obsidian In this episode, we sit down with Karl Fischer and Bennie Kahler-Venter to unpack how open source rewired the enterprise — from a risky alternative in the 80s to the foundation of modern innovation.
This isn’t a vendor pitch. It’s an honest conversation about experimentation, trust, and why enterprises started building in open sandboxes instead of locked boxes. We explore how open source enables scale, security, and speed, what Red Hat actually means in an enterprise context, and where AI and automation are quietly changing the rules again. If you’ve ever wondered why open source keeps showing up in the most critical systems… or why some leaders still hesitate to embrace it… this episode explains the shift.
Welcome back to The Kernel — let’s get to the root of it.
Monday Nov 24, 2025
Monday Nov 24, 2025
Patchnotes:
Episode 1 The Kernel, with Obsidian In this opening episode, we sit down with Obsidian Systems CEO Muggie van Staden to crack open the state of open source in 2025 — where it’s thriving, where it’s messy, and where it’s pushing the limits of enterprise technology in Africa. This isn’t a polished press release. It’s the real conversation behind the screens: how the open source community has evolved, why the BeeKeeper model still matters, and what it takes to build resilience in a world shaped by volatility and complexity. We talk adoption, culture, infrastructure, and the surprising places where open source shows up when you least expect it. If you’ve ever wondered why open source became the backbone of modern enterprise… or why so many organisations still don’t know how to use it well… this is where the story begins. Welcome to The Kernel — where we get to the root of it.