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- What powers 400 million terabytes every single day?
What powers 400 million terabytes every single day?
Welcome to edition #39 of the We ❤️ Open Source newsletter!
Ever wonder how the world actually handles the massive flood of data we generate every single day? We're talking 400 million terabytes in just 24 hours, powered by open source infrastructure you've probably never heard of. This week we're pulling back the curtain on the big data pipelines, Linux's role in keeping old hardware alive, and why real AI expertise still beats shortcuts.
We're also featuring Sheng Liang on the podcast sharing his vision for making AI accessible to everyone with Obot, plus insights on why middle managers are irreplaceable—even in an AI-powered world.
As always, our goal is to raise your open source IQ and share the stories of the people shaping the open source world—through content made and curated by real humans.🙂
This week we'll look at...
A heart-felt thank you from our team
No links to click, or events to be aware of, or OSPO's to learn more about this week. No, this week we're all about saying a simple "thank you". Your support has enabled us to publish nearly 40 newsletters - and we are beyond grateful for the opportunity. A sincere "thanks" to each and every one of you in the We Love Open Source community.
Articles
 | Ever wonder how companies handle the massive flood of data we generate every single day? We're talking 400 million terabytes in just 24 hours. This week's Learn Linux TV video pulls back the curtain on big data and reveals the Linux-powered pipelines that make it all work. From Apache Kafka streaming events in real time to Ceph storing petabytes across clusters, Jay breaks down the open source stack that keeps the digital world humming. WHY WE ❤️ IT: This article / video breaks down the concept of Big Data in plain English so you can finally understand what the buzzword actually means. We love the breakdown and explanation of the three main deployment types as well - bare metal, public cloud, and private cloud. |
 | Ever heard the one about a submarine, some lemon juice, and modern AI? This talk breaks down why developers still need real expertise, because shortcuts only get you sunk. Dive in for a surprisingly practical lesson from Chris Heilmann’s All Things Open keynote on building trustworthy AI skills. WHY WE ❤️ IT: Chris is one of the most gifted storytellers in tech. We love how he explores the Dunning-Kruger effect through a story about two 1995 bank robbers. Genius, and incredibly effective. |
 | Got an aging Windows laptop collecting dust? Don Watkins shares how Linux Mint brought an eight-year-old Windows 10 PC back from the brink and turned it into a fast, secure everyday machine. If you’ve ever wondered whether Linux can rescue your old hardware, this real-world story shows exactly what’s possible. Time to plug in and meet the little laptop that could. WHY WE ❤️ IT: Don's articles are always practical and educational, and this one is no different. We're guessing many in our community have an aging laptop that could use some "new life". |
 | AI can write reports and suggest coaching scripts, but it can't read a room or build trust in tense moments. Denitresse Ferrell reveals why middle managers are the organizational heart everyone overlooks, and why "promoted but not prepared" is costing you engagement, innovation, and results. Spoiler: dashboards without decision rights don't work. Time to invest in the middle. WHY WE ❤️ IT: We love the central theme put forward - that the missing link in performance isn't another technology or platform. It's people. We, too, believe people are at the heart of tech and performance. Right on. |
What's in your technology toolbox?
Testing Firestore security rules in production? There's a better way. Learn how to set up Firebase emulators and automated testing so you can validate your security rules locally before deployment. This step-by-step guide walks you through setting up a testing environment, adding test data, mocking authenticated users, and building confidence that your rules work exactly as intended, all without touching your production database.
From the We ❤️ Open Source Podcast
 | Sheng Liang sat down with the All Things Open team to share his vision for making AI accessible to everyone, the potential of agentic AI, and practical advice for anyone diving into AI. Whether you're just getting started or scaling AI across your team, his take on lowering barriers and building trusted systems has something for everyone. |
Wrap Up
If you've made it this far (thank you!), check out everything we do, our YouTube channel with 1000's of open source talks, the many meetups we host around the southeast and NYC, the All Things AI spring event we co-host, and of course All Things Open, the largest open source tech conference on the US east coast.
We hope you learn something new this weekend!
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