Giving back to the community with Mike Meyer

Published: 2025-05-09

Welcome to the Mac DevOps YVR Podcast! Join Mat X, JD, and a special lineup of guests as they dive into the world of managing Macs through open source software—all in the vibrant city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Our podcast series serves as a platform for discussions surrounding the Mac DevOps YVR conference, a unique gathering designed to foster collaboration among IT professionals and developers to tackle challenges within the community. With insights from speakers and industry experts, we aim to encourage and inspire developers to explore new solutions and innovations. For more information about the conference, visit our website at [mdoyvr.com](https://mdoyvr.com).

In this episode, we are thrilled to announce the kickoff of the preparations for Mac DevOps 2025. Mat X and JD reflect on the ups and downs of organizing this event—now in its 11th year—alongside the enthusiastic support of fellow contributors like Nick Z., and Jessica, our talented graphic designer. As the planning unfolds, they engage in light-hearted banter while acknowledging the hard work that goes into creating such an exciting, three-day experience for attendees.

We also welcome Mike Meyer as our special guest, who shares his journey from being a theater major to stepping into the tech world, all the while navigating the complexities of Mac products, security, and DevOps. Mike’s passion for public speaking shines as he reveals how he is preparing to present at this year’s conference. Through anecdotes and personal reflections, he illustrates how attending previous conferences inspired him to give back to the Mac admins community, paving the way for his forthcoming talk that promises to blend AI with innovative workflow management.

Listeners can expect to hear about Mike’s transition from Jamf Pro to Fleet, a tool he describes as pivotal in enhancing his team’s device management capabilities. Together with Mat X, Mike discusses the merits of adapting to change within the tech landscape and how approaching problems creatively can invigorate workflows. Their conversation encompasses themes of community support, the importance of mentorship, and a collective enthusiasm for sharing knowledge—the very core of what makes the Mac DevOps conference a standout event.

As the episode draws to a close, the trio emphasizes the significance of creating a welcoming atmosphere at the conference, full of opportunities for networking, collaboration, and learning through quick talks and open discussions. Mike encourages those considering attending to think of Mac DevOps as a more intimate and engaging version of larger tech gatherings, with the added benefit of being situated in beautiful Vancouver.

Excited for the upcoming conference, the hosts wrap up the show by sharing where to find them online, and special gratitude is given to our sponsors who help make the event—and this podcast—possible. Don’t miss out on the dynamic conversations and innovative ideas featured on the Mac DevOps YVR Podcast—be part of our enthusiastic community!

For additional details about participation, sponsorship, or just to stay connected, visit the conference website [https://mdoyvr.com](https://mdoyvr.com) and let’s keep the momentum going as we gear up for Mac DevOps 2025!

Chapters

0:01 Introduction to Mac DevOps 2025
1:58 Welcoming Our Special Guest
4:42 Mike Meyer’s Journey
14:08 Life at Foursquare
20:09 Transitioning to Fleet
24:38 Open Source Projects in Focus
27:09 Music and the Mac Community
28:16 The Conference Experience
31:50 Building Community Connections
34:01 Thank You and Sign Off

Links:

MDO Speakers list

MDO schedule 

Seattle-Apple-Admins

Tech Debt definition

Vibe coding definiton

Fleet device management 

Jamf Pro

Fleet GitHub 

GitOps definition 

Infrastructure as code defini

Osquery (open source security)

Yo notification tool by Shea Craig

Swift dialog GitHub 

MacAdmins Slack

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MDOYVR 2025

Published: 2024-12-12

Mat X, Nick and JD turn it up to eleven for MDOYVR 2025. Join us in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia June 11-13, 2025 for the 11th annual MDOYVR! Call for Attendees, Speakers and Sponsors. Quicktalks always welcome.

2025 MDO conference website

Howard Oakley’s Eclectic Light blog

MDO 2024 Quick Talks:

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MDOYVR 2024 recap

Published: 2024-07-08

Mat X, Nick Z and JD recount MDOYVR 2024 and encourage your feedback as we begin planning MDOYVR 2025. Quick Talks always welcome.

Super secret MDOYVR 2024 shirt

https://www.customink.com/fundraising/secret-mdo-t-shirt

Thank you to all our great MacDevOps:YVR 2024 sponsors! MacStadium, Fleet, SimpleMDM, Workbrew and DBQ Technology 

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OpenCore Legacy Patcher with Mykola Grymalyuk

Published: 2024-06-09

Mat X and JD are joined by Mykola Grymalyuk to discuss how he got into creating Open Core Legacy Patcher, getting into security and trying to unravel Apple Silicon VMs. Check out his security talk at MacDevOps:YVR 2024

https://github.com/khronokernel

https://khronokernel.com/

Apple Silicon and Virtual Machines: Custom Serials, DEP Enrolment and the Secure Enclave

Csaba Fitzl: “Secure coding XPC services” blog series

Google’s Project Zero

Jamf’s Compliance Editor

SecondSon Consulting’s Baseline project

SwiftDialog project

 

Thank you to all our great MacDevOps:YVR 2024 sponsors! MacStadium, Fleet, SimpleMDM, Workbrew and DBQ Technology 

Sponsors

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SwiftDialog with Bart Reardon

Published: 2024-05-29

MacDevOps:YVR 2024 conference is June 19-21, 2024. Mat X and JD are joined by Bart Reardon to chat about his open source project Swift Dialog, using SwiftUI and running an open source project.

swiftDialog

Swift Dialog documentation 

Projects that use swift Dialog

Thank you to all our great MacDevOps:YVR 2024 sponsors! Fleet, SimpleMDM and Workbrew  

Sponsors

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Aftermath with Stuart Ashenbrenner

Published: 2024-05-14

Mat X and JD are joined by Stuart Ashenbrenner, macOS Security Researcher at HuntressLabs, to discuss Aftermath, a Swift-based, open-source incident response framework, and being a Millennial Girl Dad.

MacDevOps:YVR 2024 conference is June 19-21, 2024.

Acronym expansion:

EDREndpoint detection and response

Video:

MDO YVR 2023 – (dm)XProtect: Stop, Drop, Shut malware down before it opens up shop 

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10th Anniversary conference

Published: 2023-12-13

Our tenth anniversary edition of MacDevOps:YVR is next June 2024. Planning and preparations have already begun. Mat X and JD are joined by Nick Zolotko,  one of our amazing behind the scenes organizers for the tenth annual MDOYVR Conference.

MDOYVR 2023 call for speakers

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Declarative MDO with Joel Rennich

Published: 2023-06-14

MacDevOps:YVR 2023 is a week away. Mat X and JD are joined by Joel Rennich one of our speakers to chat about the upcoming ninth annual MDOYVR Conference, Hack Night, and some of what was seen at WWDC.

June 20 – Workshops and pre-conference social

June 21-22 – Two full days of talks and panels and the famous hallway track including a fun hack night on June 21st!

MDOYVR 2023 conference schedule

Links:

DataIntell – storage analytics

Archiware P5 – software for archiving all the things (LTO, cloud, everything)

 

WWDC 2023 – What’s new in managing Apple devices

Explore advances in Declarative Device Management (WWDC 2023 Video)

KMFDDM is an Apple Declarative Device Management (DDM) server. It works together with NanoMDM. (See also MicroMDM)

What’s new in Swift (WWDC 2023 Videos)

Login window apps: Joel Rennich’s NoMAD and Tim Perfitt’s XCreds

Photogrammetry

WebAuthN

Device Attestation currently

Osquery

Fleet device management

Munki

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Thank you to the MDO YVR 2023 Sponsors:

Gold + Graphics Recording Sponsor

HP Anyware

Silver Sponsor

Fleet DM

Live Stream sponsor

SimpleMDM (PDQ)

Workshop helper sponsor

MacStadium

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Hey let’s get ready for MacDevOps!

Published: 2023-06-07

Mat X and JD are joined by Stuart, one of our speakers, and Arnold, an attendee, discussing their journey to attending the ninth annual MDOYVR Conference.

June 20 – Workshops and pre-conference social

June 21-22 – Two full days of talks and panels and the famous hallway track

Links:

MDOYVR 2023 conference schedule

Aftermath – Swift based open-source incident response framework

Beyond the good ol’ launch agents (Csba Fitzl)

Sarah Edwards – Laughing Apollo (MDOYVR 2019) |

Sarah Edward’s mac4n6 blog

 

 

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Thank you to the MDO YVR 2023 Sponsors:

Gold + Graphics Recording Sponsor

HP Anyware

Silver Sponsor

Fleet DM

Live Stream sponsor

SimpleMDM (PDQ)

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MacDevOps:YVR 2023 Back in Person

Published: 2023-05-31

MacDevOps:YVR 2023 is weeks away. Join Mat X and JD as they discuss some of the highlights to the ninth annual MDOYVR Conference back in person in beautiful downtown Vancouver, B.C.

June 20 – Workshops and pre-conference social

June 21-22 – Two full days of talks and panels and the famous hallway track

MDOYVR 2023 conference schedule

As if it were a swarm of bees, you should stay away from the SyncServices folder in Mac OS X 10.4.

Apple knowledge article on SyncServices (Archive.org)

The polyglot software un-conference

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Thank you to the MDO YVR 2023 Sponsors:

Gold + Graphics Recording Sponsor

HP Anyware

Silver Sponsor

Fleet DM

Live Stream sponsor

SimpleMDM (PDQ)

 

 

 

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