How does an open-source project actually work – a look at Kubernetes
Kubernetes is one of the largest open-source projects, supported by thousands of contributors. Mario Fahlandt describes how to get started.
(Image: peampath2812 / Shutterstock.com)
With over 90,000 contributors and around 4.4 million contributions, Kubernetes is the second-largest open-source project worldwide after Linux. In Germany, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) now also classifies Kubernetes as the de facto standard for container orchestration. But how does a project of this magnitude actually work from the inside? As part of the Cloud Native Festival CloudLand 2025, Mario Fahlandt, who is active in the Kubernetes project, among other things in the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Contributor Experience and K8s Infra, gave a detailed insight into the structures, entry opportunities, and career paths of the Kubernetes community.
Fahlandt, who himself acts as host for the EMEA/APAC region at the Kubernetes New Contributor Orientation (NCO), made it clear in his presentation: Contributions to the project are by no means limited to code. Taking meeting minutes, answering questions in the Slack channel, correcting documentation, or writing blog posts – all of this counts as a contribution.
(Image:Â cloudland.org)
From May 19 to 22, 2026, interested parties will find a packed line-up at the Cloud Native Festival CloudLand with more than 200 highlights – including the two new topic areas "Open Source" and "Platform Engineering" with a colorful mix of predominantly interactive sessions, hands-ons, and workshops.
Tickets for the festival and accommodation in Heide Park Soltau can be booked via the festival homepage.
Three categories of Special Interest Groups
The community is organized under the umbrella of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in a differentiated structure. At the top is a Steering Committee with seven elected members. The actual work takes place in 24 Special Interest Groups (SIGs), which are divided into three categories: Project SIGs such as Architecture, Docs, or Release support the overall project organizationally. Horizontal SIGs – including API Machinery, Auth, or Scalability – take care of cross-cutting core functionality. Vertical SIGs such as Network, Storage, or Node are each responsible for specific technical components. This structure is supplemented by seven Working Groups for temporary topics and three Committees. Every code and documentation part is assigned to a specific SIG or a subproject.
Who should get involved and how to get started?
Those who want to get involved can connect via the Kubernetes Slack (channel #kubernetes-new-contributors), the K-Dev mailing list, and the Community Calendar. The monthly NCO session takes place on the third Tuesday of each month – for the EMEA/APAC region, for example, at 10:30 AM CET. The sessions have been running since September 2024 and will continue in 2026.
The Contributor Ladder as a Career Path
According to Fahlandt, the so-called Contributor Ladder defines a transparent path of advancement. From Non-member Contributor, one progresses through Org Membership – for which two existing reviewers must vouch – to Reviewer, Approver, and finally to Subproject Owner or SIG Chair. However, Fahlandt warned of a typical entry trap: those who isolate themselves to grab a "Good First Issue" from the repository and work on it without contact with the respective SIG often fail. Labels like "good first issue" or "help wanted" in repositories like kubernetes/kubernetes mark suitable tasks – such as documentation improvements, link corrections, or test additions. However, the key to success is to first join a SIG, attend its meetings, and get permanently involved. So-called evergreen tasks such as meeting minutes, SIG spotlight blog posts, or reviews for SIG Docs are particularly low-threshold.
Community Events in the DACH region
Those seeking personal exchange will find increasing opportunities in German-speaking countries at conferences such as CloudLand 2026, the ContainerDays, the Cloud Native Days Austria, or the CLC 2026. In addition, the CNCF regularly plans Kubernetes Community Days (KCDs), and on Meetup.com alone, thousands of members are organized in Kubernetes-related groups in Germany.
Fahlandt's conclusion sums up the community's philosophy: "Getting started isn't always easy, and understandably, that's frustrating. But if you stick with it, it's enormously rewarding. We'd love to help you stick with it!"
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About the Speaker
Mario Fahlandt is a Customer Delivery Architect at Kubermatic. He is also actively involved in the CNCF's Kubernetes project – including as TAG Co Chair Operational Resilience, SIG Co Chair Contributor Experience, SIG K8s Infra, and Comms Subproject Tech Lead.
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