diff --git a/content/blog/contributor-highlight-jaime-silvela/index.md b/content/blog/contributor-highlight-jaime-silvela/index.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..38f5133da --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/contributor-highlight-jaime-silvela/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +--- +title: "Contributor Spotlight: Jaime Silvela" +date: 2025-07-07 +draft: false +image: + url: jaime.jpg + attribution: +author: fdrees +tags: + - kubectl + - ciclops + - kubernetes + - postgresql + - open-source + - spotlight +summary: "In a mini-series on this blog we highlight the work of the community. + Today we meet Jaime Silvela, experienced software developer and system + builder and CloudNativePG component owner." +--- + +Building and maintaining an open source project takes a village. In a +mini-series on this blog we would like to highlight the work of our +maintainers, component owners, and members of the larger community. + + +Jaime Silvela ([jsilvela](https://github.com/jsilvela) on GitHub), is an experienced software developer and +system builder, and a component owner for the CloudNativePG project. If you've +ever visited cloudnative-pg.io (spoiler: you have now), you've seen his work. +Jaime is currently on a sabbatical of sorts, after working at EDB from 2021 to +2025, first as a Senior developer, then as a Principal. + +When he started at EDB, the operator (then called CNP) had not yet been made +open source. "I was so lucky to land in the team building CloudNativePG." His +first real contribution was adding the `report` command for the kubectl plugin. +Other significant ones were declarative roles and tablespaces, documentation, +and creating [Ciclops](https://cloudnative-pg.io/blog/introducing-ciclops/). + +"CloudNativePG already does most of what I need; it's what I'll use in any +project where I have a choice." It's not the project that needs to change, +says Jaime. What he most wants applies to Kubernetes, and only by refraction +to CNPG: "I would like to see more consolidation and refinement in the K8s +ecosystem. There is too much complexity right now, and at the same time, I +see this careless attitude of _just deploy this manifest on your K8s cluster_ +that reminds me of ... NPM." + +Like many in his generation, from a young age Jaime was attracted to computers, +which still felt arcane and unexplored. "I have fond memories of my family's +Commodore VIC-20. But it was not until reading [*Structure and Interpretation +of Computer Programs*](https://mitp-content-server.mit.edu/books/content/sectbyfn/books_pres_0/6515/sicp.zip/index.html) in my early twenties that I thought of writing code for +a living." That book also motivated him to move to the US for graduate school. + +To the question what he wants to be when he grows up, Jaime answers: "I just +turned 50, and you don't find so many developers of that age. But I intend +to keep writing code; I have more contributions to make!" Even if these days +there's a lot of hype around generative AI / LLM tools, Jaime is betting and +hoping that when the dust settles, there will still be a big need for human +software developers. "Do not obey in advance!" We know who to go to battle +with when the singularity comes. + +If you wanted to get in touch with Jaime, you can find him in the +CloudNativePG channels on the CNCF Slack workspace, or on [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/jaimes.bsky.social), +[Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@jsilvela@mas.to), or [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimesilvela/). He also writes a [blog](https://blog.silvela.org/). You can follow the CloudNativePG project on [Bluesky](https://cloudnativepg.bsky.social) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@CloudNativePG) too! diff --git a/content/blog/contributor-highlight-jaime-silvela/jaime.jpg b/content/blog/contributor-highlight-jaime-silvela/jaime.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000..25abcf0fe Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/contributor-highlight-jaime-silvela/jaime.jpg differ