Open source standards promise freedom, vendor neutrality, interoperability and no single company pulling the strings.
But swap one proprietary API for OpenTelemetry, OpenFeature, or Kubernetes - and ask yourself honestly: how easy is it to leave?
In this session, two independent practitioners take the stage on opposite sides of that question. One argues the lock-in is real - migration costs, governance slowdowns, specs shaped by committee rather than conviction. The other argues the opposite: that community-owned consensus is exactly what makes innovation possible, ecosystems diverse, and startups viable without building their own moat.
No vendor slides. No easy answers. Just the argument your architecture deserves.