OpenTF for an open Terraform (Changelog Interviews #556)
Sep 6, 2023
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Josh Padnick joins the podcast to discuss the launch of OpenTF, the licensing changes to HashiCorp's Terraform, and the impact of Terraform on infrastructure-as-code. They also talk about eliminating the need for static IP addresses with TailScale, enabling APM and handling performance issues, and the vision for OpenTF as a drop-in replacement for Terraform.
The OpenTF community was formed in response to HashiCorp's license change for Terraform, aiming to provide a clear, unambiguous open source license and maintain backward compatibility with HashiCorp Terraform.
OpenTF has gained significant support and adoption, with the OpenTF manifesto repo garnering 25,000 GitHub stars, and it is committed to full-time employees, compatibility, and joining the Linux Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation.
OpenTF is a legitimate and well-supported fork of Terraform, with strong backing from prominent open source members and organizations, and it has sparked collaboration among competitors to develop an open source version of Terraform.
Deep dives
The OpenTF manifesto and the license change
The OpenTF community was formed in response to HashiCorp's license change for Terraform. The manifesto, signed by over 110 companies, called for HashiCorp to revert to an open source license. However, HashiCorp did not respond and the decision was made to fork Terraform.
OpenTF's goals and vision
OpenTF aims to provide a clear, unambiguous open source license and maintain backward compatibility with HashiCorp Terraform. They plan to create a drop-in replacement for Terraform and establish a community-driven RFC process for new features and improvements.
Supporting and adopting OpenTF
OpenTF has seen significant support and adoption, with the OpenTF manifesto repo garnering 25,000 GitHub stars. OpenTF is committed to full-time employees, compatibility, and joining the Linux Foundation and the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. They plan to create a parallel registry to address the restrictions set by HashiCorp.
The possibility of a merge
While a merge between OpenTF and HashiCorp is technically possible, the likelihood is low. OpenTF welcomes HashiCorp as a participant in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, but it seems unlikely given the motivations behind the license change.
OpenTF: The Fork of Terraform
OpenTF is a legitimate and well-supported fork of Terraform, with strong backing from prominent open source members and organizations. It has gained the support of the Linux Foundation and is expected to join the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). This initiative has sparked enthusiasm and collaboration among competitors, resulting in a consortium of companies working together to develop an open source version of Terraform.
The Future of Open Source and OpenTF
OpenTF's commitment to permanent open sourcing and the business source license issue brings attention to the evolving social contract of open source projects. The success of OpenTF depends on community involvement, clear governance, and transparent progress. The roadmap includes goals such as a public GitHub repository, community contribution guidelines, and porting features from HashiCorp Terraform. While no release date is committed, there is a sense of urgency to deliver OpenTF. Community interaction occurs through GitHub discussions and pull requests, with plans to establish a dedicated platform for collaboration.
This week we’re talking about the launch of OpenTF and what it’s going to take to successfully fork HashiCorp’s Terraform. We’re joined by Josh Padnick to discuss what exactly happened, how HashiCorp’s license change changes things, who has been impacted by this change, and ultimately what they are doing about it.
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We were going to link to the video where HashiCorp CEO Dave McJannet’s used the word “malicious” in regards to their strategy and actions towards the open source community, but it has been taken down. This was the link to the video with a timestamp jumping to the part in question - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59rEiAyYEVk&t=920s
This tweet/post from Bryan Cantrill brought this to the community’s attention.
