Terraform alternative OpenTofu has reached version 1.8 amid further signs of fragmentation.

The headline feature in this release of the Infrastructure-as-Code project is the ability to use variables and locals in more places. The group behind the project reckons this will cut down on duplicated and boilerplate code and therefore make projects easier to maintain.

It's something users have wanted for years. One observer noted that "a proposal for variables in backend configuration blocks was first suggested in 2017," but it is also a move away from language features in Terraform.

To that end, the team has also added a .tofu extension to files. When a file with the .tofu extension is present, OpenTofu will ignore the identically named .tf file. According to OpenTofu: "Using this new file extension, module authors can use the new features of OpenTofu and still keep older code around for compatibility."

Other changes in the release include a raft of bug fixes and provider mocking in tofu test.

Using override .tofu files to allow new features to be added without compromising compatibility is a solution to updating the product in the short term, but in the long term, it highlights the inevitable fragmentation as OpenTofu moves farther from its Terraform origins.

OpenTofu arose from HashiCorp's decision to change Terraform's license to something a little more proprietary, the Business Source License (BSL) 1.1. Many open source fans were less than amused and promptly branched the last Mozilla Public License (MPL) version of Terraform to create OpenTF, which eventually became OpenTofu.

While OpenTofu has been releasing updates requested by the community, HashiCorp has been otherwise occupied.

A contributor to the OpenTofu project, Scalr's Sebastian Stadil, told The Register that version 1.7 was all about client-side state encryption. Version 1.8 has the ability to extend variables and locals to more places. Stadil said the project had "a community-driven approach and not a vendor-driven approach."

Of the decision to add the .tofu file extension, Stadil told The Register: "OpenTofu is adding functionality at a faster velocity than Terraform, so this is our way of maximizing compatibility without slowing down to Terraform's pace."

HashiCorp, in comparison, is the subject of a $6.4 billion acquisition by IBM, which partly explains the change in licensing terms. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into the deal, and there are mutterings that IBM's move might not have been the wisest, not least due in part to the appearance of open source rivals such as OpenTofu.

It is coming up for a year since HashiCorp made its BSL announcement and ten years since Terraform was first released. The company has continued to steadily release updates, even with the distraction of the IBM deal.

However, its open source competitor has continued to make inroads into the company's customer base and increase its popularity. The project claims its daily registry requests have increased by approximately 30 percent to a 1.8 million peak in the last three months.

Stadil told The New Stack: "Nobody likes split communities. Nobody likes fragmentation of efforts." While OpenTofu is packed full of laudable features, its evolution is difficult to see as anything other than a march away from Terraform.

IBM will be paying close attention to what happens next. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/07/31/opentofu_version_18/