EdgeCase 2026 in Hilversum: a day of Kubernetes, edge and good conversations

Last Thursday I spent a day in Hilversum at EdgeCase 2026, a conference about Kubernetes. I talked to many people about sovereignty, platform engineering and security, and I came home with more than I expected.

Why I went #

Platform engineering interests me and gives me energy, because I have always worked in that field. I like to know what others in it are working on. At a conference I hear other people’s problems, and those are often more interesting than my own. So I went to listen to the talks, and even more to meet people and hear what keeps them busy.

I like the question “what are you working on right now?” because the answer is rarely what I would have guessed. It also tells me more about someone than a job title does.

The day itself #

TrueFullstaq organised the fifth edition at Gooiland in Hilversum on 24 September. With more than 400 attendees, the organisers call it the largest Kubernetes-focused event in the Netherlands. The theme was Pokémon, “Gotta Catch ‘Em All”, and the programme covered Kubernetes, platform engineering, security, sovereignty and edge.

Two words came up all day, and they describe different things. Edge means running software close to where it is used, in a shop, a factory or a remote site, instead of in a big data centre far away. Air-gapped means a system has no connection to the internet at all, often on purpose, for security. Each brings its own challenges.

What I learned #

Edge is the better known of the two. Air-gapped Kubernetes was new ground for me, and I found it very interesting. Most Kubernetes guides assume the internet is there, so every step that relies on it needs a new plan.

I also learned about OpenNebula. It was new ground for me too, and an interesting solution from two angles. It fits the sovereignty theme, and it works as an alternative to VMware since the Broadcom acquisition.

The conversations #

The hallway is where you meet new people and hear what they do and what keeps them busy, and that gave me the most.

I had a good, informal talk with the people from Sidero Labs, the company behind Talos Linux. I just sat at the bench in front of their booth. I learned a lot about the enterprise license: all enterprise features are in the Talos Linux OS itself, and Talos Enterprise in the portal collects and summarises them. That interests me because I would love to use it myself. They also told me about a new feature coming to Talos: virtualization.

I also talked with the TrueFullstaq team about what keeps them busy and what challenges they face. They have clients that run air-gapped solutions, and it was an insightful talk, also about how they run Kubernetes, manage it and develop on it. They told me how they update those clusters: they carry the updates in on a USB stick.

Wrapping up #

EdgeCase gave me what I hoped for: new ideas about edge and air-gapped Kubernetes, a first look at OpenNebula, and good talks with the Sidero Labs and TrueFullstaq people. I will definitely go again.

If you work in this field, or you are curious about it, get in touch. I would like to hear what keeps you busy.