CSOSUG: Introduction to DALEC for Container building, validation, and publishing

## Details

AGENDA
5:00 - 5:30 PM - Networking
5:30 - 5:35 PM - Announcements
5:35 - 7:25 PM - Speaker
7:25 - 7:30 PM - Door Prize Drawings

TOPIC ABSTRACT
Intoduction to DALEC
DALEC is an open, declarative tool designed to bring consistency and transparency to how container images and related artifacts are built, validated, and published. Rather than relying on imperative scripts and ad‑hoc pipelines, DALEC enables teams to describe what they want to build—images, artifacts, metadata, and policies—using a structured specification. Execution of the specification is handled by Buildkit, the same underlying technology used when you run docker build. You can produce Windows binaries, Linux packages, and containers using those artifacts.
This introductory presentation provides an overview of the problems DALEC aims to solve in modern cloud-native and supply-chain–conscious environments, including fragmented build logic, inconsistent image provenance, and the difficulty of enforcing policy across heterogeneous pipelines. We will walk through DALEC’s core concepts and show how they fit into existing CI/CD ecosystems. By the end of the session, attendees will understand how DALEC helps standardize container builds, improve maintainability and compliance, and support secure, scalable software supply chains.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
Jeremy Rickard
Jeremy Rickard is a Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft, where he works on cloud‑native infrastructure with a focus on Kubernetes, secure software supply chains, and declarative build systems. He has deep experience designing and operating large‑scale container platforms, including Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and leads efforts around vulnerability management and upstream open‑source integration. He is a member of the CNCF Technical Oversight Committee and a chair for Kubernetes SIG Release.

OUR SPONSORS
Website Sponsor: Gary Hessler
Venue: East Library Community Room
Door Prize Sponsors: Jetbrains (http://www.jetbrains.com) - Software license (Several products to choose from)
Training Sponsor: Agile Learner (http://agilelearner.com) - Technical training donated by Venkat Subramanium