February 2024 Summaries

Dagger Functions` is a core feature of the `Dagger Engine`, which is expanding and making itself available to all developers. It allows users to transform their messy CI scripts into clean code, making their CI simpler, faster, more reliable, more portable - and more fun to write. The new feature uses a next-generation container engine controlled by a GraphQL API to chain multiple functions together into a dynamic pipeline with a single query. Users can now write their own Dagger Functions, package them into reusable modules, and call them directly from the CLI. This makes it easier for developers to collaborate and standardize their platform across language silos. The feature is designed to be safe and extensible, allowing users to share their code and best practices with others.

The Dagger team attended the Civo Navigate conference in Austin, where they had a great experience discussing platform engineering, infrastructure, Kubernetes, AI, and DevOps with the thriving tech community. The event featured a fireside chat with co-founder Solomon and the Civo CEO and CTO Mark and Dinesh, which provided valuable insights into the company's journey and the importance of not being afraid to look ridiculous when creating new ways of doing things. The conversation also touched on the iterative process of generating the idea for Dagger, the challenges of building an open source business, and the need for best practices in modern CI/CD processes. Two key themes emerged from the conversations: Configuration as (actual) Code, emphasizing the importance of using programming languages like Go or Python to describe CI/CD pipelines, and DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), highlighting the waste and repetition in current CI configurations. The event was refreshing, and the Dagger team is now more motivated than ever to continue their work on fixing CI.

The company behind Dagger Cloud has introduced two new pricing plans: a flat-rate plan for teams at $50 per month for up to 10 users, and a free plan for individuals. The new team plan offers a simpler and more predictable monthly subscription, while the free plan provides pipeline visualization for students, hobbyists, researchers, and open-source maintainers. The company aims to make Dagger Cloud a valuable tool for every single user, regardless of use case or budget, with many improvements planned.