You can't Git clone a team

Summary

Let’s get this out of the way first: yes, mastering the entire software stack is technically hard. You can read why in my previous post:Few build Hypervisors. We’re one of them.Everyone uses virtualization. Few truly understand what they’re building on. That’s why calling hypervisors a commodity is a dangerous illusion.But let me tell you something even more terrifying—it’s humanly hard.You’re not just fighting against CPU cycles or kernel panics. You’re fighting entropy, demographics, and a universe that seems hell-bent on making deep tech careers as attractive as a root canal.This post is a bit of a side quest from my usual rants. Think of it as an important footnote with its own personality—kind of like when you discover the appendix of a book is where all the juicy bits actually are.The myth of the full stack masterSure, on paper, you might think “Hey, with enough coffee and willpower, someone can understand everything from the hypervisor to the orchestration layer!” But here’s the thing: coffee can only do so much. The real problem isn’t just complexity: it’s people.The kind of expertise needed to build and maintain an entire virtualization stack is… rare. Like unicorns-with-a-GitHub-profile rare.We’re talking about skills that span kernel-level programming, hardware quirks, low-level debugging, distributed systems, security, orchestration logic, even the capability to work with the UI/UX team... and the ability to explain all that without scaring interns. You can’t just hire for that. You have to grow it. Nurture it. Beg for it. Or in some cases, resurrect it.Meanwhile, in the aging Open Source village...Let’s look at the real-world landscape. In many low-level or system-related open-source communities, the average age of core contributors is steadily increasing. These folks are still sharp as ever, but they’re the same people as 10 or even 20 years ago. They’re aging. Just like vintage wine. Or your favorite PHP-based web panel.But unlike wine, contributors e...