Why Open Source Might Be Your Best Career Move w/ Shruti Kapoor

Recorded at All Things Open 2025, Robbie Wagner and guest co-host Jason Lengstorf chat with developer-turned-creator Shruti Kapoor about her leap from Slack and PayPal to YouTube, the joys and pitfalls of open source, and eternal web dev debates. In this episode: (00:00) - Intro (01:37) - Wine rating & review: Fre Sparkling Brut (06:33) - Hot Take: git rebase vs. git merge (09:11) - Hot Take: Is HTML a programming language? (09:41) - Hot Take: Is CSS a programming language? (10:20) - Hot take: classes vs. functional components (11:13) - Hot Take: Remix, TanStack, or Next.js? (15:02) - Hot Take: console.log vs debugger (16:11) - Hot Take: Were React server components a mistake? (20:42) - How open source changed Shruti’s career (22:23) - The real value of contributing to open source (26:05) - What is the React Foundation and why it matters (28:58) - Highlights from React Conf and new features (31:01) - From Slack engineer to independent creator (34:34) - Choosing what content to make (and why) (37:58) - Shruti’s dog, discipline, and life lessons (40:01) - What would Shruti do if not in tech? (40:30) - Where to find Shruti online Links Fre Sparkling Brut: https://www.frewines.com/ Wes Bos: https://wesbos.com/ Syntax: https://syntax.fm/ Slack: https://slack.com/ PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com React: https://react.dev/ JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript HTML: https://www.w3schools.com/html/ CSS: https://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ Ember: https://emberjs.com/ TanStack: https://tanstack.com/ Next.js: https://nextjs.org/ Remix: https://remix.run/ Astro: https://astro.build/ VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/ All Things Open: https://allthingsopen.org/ GitHub: https://github.com/ React Conf: https://conf.react.dev/ React Foundation: https://react.dev/blog/2025/10/07/introducing-the-react-foundation Linux Foundation: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/ Vercel: https://vercel.com/ Google Home: https://home.google.com/welcome/ Primeagen: https://x.com/ThePrimeagen ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ MCP: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/ Shruti's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@shrutikapoor08 16 Common React useEffect Mistakes You’re Making: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGOPO2V6MHI Connect with Jason Website: https://jason.energy/ X / Twitter: https://x.com/jlengstorf   Connect with Shruti Website: https://shrutikapoor.dev/ X / Twitter: https://x.com/shrutikapoor08 Connect with the hosts Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd Adam Argyle: https://x.com/argyleink Subscribe and stay in touch Website: https://whiskey.fm Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot Whiskey Web and Whatnot MerchEnjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.