Episode 3
Wes McKinney: Part 2 The open source hustle and an insider view of Positron
In Part 2 of our conversation with Wes McKinney, we go beyond the code and into the mission-driven world of open source funding, community-building, and product strategy. Wes talks about what it takes to make critical tools like Arrow sustainable — from pitching to mavericks at Two Sigma to navigating the politics of Apache Software Foundation governance. Also, Wes gives a peek behind the curtain on the origins of Positron. And, yeah, metal.
Listen on:
Follow The Test Set:
EPISODE NOTES
In part two of our conversation with Wes McKinney, we dig into the challenges and realities of sustaining open source software. Wes shares how funding actually works (or doesn’t), why corporate buy-in is essential, and what it’s like building tools across languages, communities, and IDEs.
We also talk about the Apache Software Foundation’s role in open governance and the origin of the Positron IDE.
-
What's Inside:
- Why passion isn’t enough for open source to scale
- Apache Arrow's origin story and how it was pitched
- How open governance enables trust between competitors
- The thinking behind Positron, Posit’s next-gen IDE
- Polyglot programming – Designing tools that bridge the R/Python divide
- LLMs and data UX: Why modern IDEs need to serve both humans and models
- Day-to-day coding, advising, investing, and context-switching
- Metalheads unite
HOSTS & GUESTS
Principal Software Engineer, Posit
Michael Chow
Principal Architect, Posit
Wes McKinney