Open Stack

As we near the next OpenStack Summit, it has become clear that the way
forward for Heat users is.. well, not very clear.

Heat currently only supports one way to define applications. That is the
hybrid Heat-specific plus CloudFormation-compatible templating language.

We also have a proposal to add TOSCA support to Heat:

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/heat/+spec/tosca-support
http://lists.openstack.org/pipermail/openstack-dev/2013-April/007252.html

Adrian from RackSpace has stated that they are working on an "Open API &
DSL" and a "Declarative Model":

http://lists.openstack.org/pipermail/openstack-dev/2013-April/007126.html

I've also heard OASIS/CAMP thrown around as something that might be
implemented in Heat.

I count no less than 4 possible ways for users to express application
deployments. Succinctly:

* CloudFormation-ish
* Open DSL w/ Declarative model(undefined yet)
* TOSCA
* CAMP

http://xkcd.com/927/

I am concerned about the fragmentation that users may be presented
with if we do not take a step back and talk about the ramifications
of supporting all of them. Its great to be as broad and accepting as
possible when it makes sense, but not at the expense of user confusion
and/or incompatibility.

So, I am calling on those interested in the various formats to at least
raise your hands and let us, the heat users and developers, know what
you expect from Heat as a project, and what makes any of these standards
worth implementing. I think this is worth having a break-out session at
the summit next week to discuss, and would also encourage everyone to
start (or continue) the discussion right here on the mailing list.


Clint Byrum
HP Cloud Services