OpenStack has launched its 32nd major release, called Flamingo. The open source cloud platform is taking a clear step towards modernization, as one of the most significant changes is the complete removal of the Eventlet library.
Eventlet was developed almost two decades ago to enable concurrency in Python. This was at a time when the language itself did not yet have async capabilities. Over the years, this feature has become obsolete, and its maintenance has been neglected. This has led to compatibility issues and operational risks for OpenStack installations. Removing Eventlet from the base gives the project a much stronger foundation for the coming years, according to The Register.
A concrete result is evident in the bare-metal module, Ironic. From now on, it can run as a fully-fledged multi-threaded application, which improves performance and scalability. This is more than just an internal clean-up: it opens the door to more reliable and faster bare-metal provisioning, a crucial feature for organizations that deploy their cloud infrastructure on a large scale.
OpenStack as an alternative to VMware
The Flamingo release includes a total of more than 8,000 changes, but it is the strategic implications that stand out most. OpenStack is explicitly positioned as an alternative to VMware, a scenario that is becoming increasingly attractive due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of that platform. Additionally, Flamingo aims to make OpenStack more attractive for modern workloads in the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-performance computing.
OpenStack is currently running on more than 55 million cores worldwide in production environments. With Flamingo, the Open Infrastructure Foundation hopes to further expand that base. Although the release has been designated as Non-SLURP and users can skip it without any issues, Flamingo is considered a significant milestone within the community, preparing the platform for the next fifteen years.