The Nextcloud Podcast

In this episode of the Nextcloud Podcast, our host Ingo meets Aline Blankertz, a German data economist and digital rights campaigner.

Aline is an economist and Tech Economy Lead at Rebalance Now, where she works on strategies to counter concentrated power in digital markets. She combines years of experience in competition economics with a strong commitment to making markets democratically accountable.

In the episode, we tap into Aline's expertise in digital sovereignty, open source, and big tech regulation to answer some burning questions:
• Why do some politicians and industries resist stronger enforcement against big tech companies? What can be done to overcome this resistance?
• What role do open source and open standards play in reducing Europe's dependency on big tech, and how can public procurement and regulations support this effort?
• Sovereignty washing: how do Big Tech corporations leverage local actors to create an illusion of sovereignty?

And, of course, one more thing we are all curious about: what to expect from the Nextcloud Summit panel session "From open source to open ecosystems: Europe’s next digital play"?

Listen now to find out!

Want to be part of the conversation? Meet Aline Blankertz at the Nextcloud Summit 2026.

Aline joins us at the Nextcloud Summit 2026 on June 9 in Munich, Germany. She is one of the panelists in the hard-hitting discussion "From open source to open ecosystems: Europe’s next digital play". The session is moderated by Ingo Dachwitz, political journalist at netzpolitik.org, and joined by Prof. Dr. Dennis-Kenji Kipker, Prof. Dr. Johanna Pirker and Holger Pfister.

Join the Nextcloud Summit to attend the panel discussion and ask your questions to the participating panelists.

This episode of the Nextcloud Podcast is an exciting contributor story. And just in time before holidays, we are talking about cooking... and code. Meet Christian Wolf, a long-term Nextcloud contributor and maintainer of the famous Cookbook app!

During his early coding days, Christian was trying to learn more about web applications. Seeking an app to sharpen his skills with, he came across the Cookbook app. Many years later, Christian is the main brain behind Cookbook, while the app is one of the most popular apps on Nextcloud App Store.

Christian shares with us how he got into coding and open source, his work on the Cookbook app and his vision for its future, and tips for people who want to start developing for Nextcloud.

We meet Simon Lindner, software engineer at Nextcloud, the developer of Nextcloud AIO, to duscover the history and present of Nextcloud AIO, Simon's personal journey, and, of course, everything a meticulous admin wants to know about the easiest way to host Nextcloud.

We're joined by Anna and Michael "Monty" Widenius, the people behind the MariaDB Foundation, who are here to help us unpack the challenges of the open source business, vendor lock-in, and owning your data through their unique lens — and experience.

From Andy's approach to problem-solving and guiding others to his personal values that give him direction, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, community, and personal growth.