New name for the OpenTF project

[roni-frantchi]

This is an issue that's meant to be a place where we can consolidate some of the discussions around several issues raised regarding the name of the project/binary.
Namely #273 #276 #287 .
I'll be closing these issues soon for the sake of having one place to discuss the matter.

Naming can be, unfortunately, a little tricky - specifically around Hashicorp trademarks.
Our legal team is currently going through the process of clearing some alternatives if needs be, as OpenTF might not be one we will be able to keep.

[jebotz]

Some criteria for the name...

1. It should a fairly generic term referencing or invoking "infrastructure as code".
2. Somewhat in tension with the previous point, it should be distinct enough that it can be effectively googled.
3. It should not use the word cloud... it's about infrastructure, cloud or otherwise.
4. It should not remind of the old name... not only for legal reasons, but also to make a clean break... from here on this the definitive IaC software, not a "clone" of the old one.

Specific suggestions:

• Project: OpenInfraCode, with the executable being 'oic' or even 'iac'
• infrabuilder
• infratect

[Magnitus-]

Some quick suggestions from the top of my head:

• Infode or Incode (merging "infra" and "code" together)
• Infrascale (for scaling infra across a large team by codifying it)
• Devopify or Devopic (making operations more ammenable to devops methodology either as an action or qualitative)
• Infrascript (scripting your infra)
• Declarify or Declair (takes on "declarative", made it a little French with the second one)
• Infradev (from the idea of making infra more dev friendly)
• Scalop or Scalops (scaling operations)
• Scalator (something that scales)

[RLRabinowitz]

Worth listing anything that should be done once the new name for the OpenTF project has been decided, to migrate the project to the new name:

• Rename all occurrences of opentf in the code to the new name
• Replace all occurrences of placeholderplaceholderplaceholder, if those are not yet determined by then (Rename all placeholderplaceholderplaceholder occurrences. #165)
• Replace the domain names (of the documentation website and the registry) to correspond to the new name
• Rename the GitHub Organization and Repository to the new name. All links to the repo should still work once we do that

@DicsyDel anything else you think we'd need to add here?

[sylvinus]

If the plan is to keep backwards compatibility, that means keeping .tf files around?

I understand the need to stay clear of the old name, but what about something in the vein of "TransForge" that would keep being related to the file extension?

[marcinwyszynski]

The file extensions are fine. Generally consuming things is perfectly fine.

[theherk]

Another two great suggestions were terrafork and lunarspoon, though I still think tofu has been the best suggestion, though I can't find where that was made. Short, still has tf matching extension, and doesn't sound like terraform.

Edited to clarify my recommendation:

tofu

[ppabis]

though I still thing tofu has been the best suggestion

Voting up for Tofu because Bento

But still will throw my thoughts:

Gaiamorph - literally Greek paratranslation of Terra-form

cTF - Cloud Target/Template Formatter - or anything that goes with this abbreviation

[lorengordon]

I like tofu also 😄

[DicsyDel]

@RLRabinowitz LGTM

[bsanders]

Since it got a lot of positive reactions, I'm going to pull this one forward from one of the earlier issues: hashbrowns

#276 (comment)

[lens0021]

• tufa: (petrology) A variety of volcanic rock, tuff
• tafos: τάφος(táphos) funeral rites, burial, funeral, wake. tomb, grave
• tofus: kind of rock (Latin)
• tofum: accusative singular of tōfus (Latin)
• tefra: tephra (geology) The solid material thrown into the air by a volcanic eruption that settles on the surrounding areas

[pauldraper]

Tofu is silly, but makes for a good CLI.

I like Incode.

OpenForm is a straightforward option. Think Elasticsearch -> OpenSearch.

[alex067]

tofu is unironically kinda great.

• short / 2 syllabels
• shortened to tf
• arguably food agnostic???

[Magnitus-]

tofu is inspired, plus its healthy and good for the environment. Its also self-deprecatingly charming.

I think terrafork is great too, but if the goal is to distance ourselves from the Hashicorp offerings, then its not the best in this regard unfortunately.

[jebotz]

I think terrafork is great too, but if the goal is to distance ourselves from the Hashicorp offerings, then its not the best in this regard unfortunately.

It's not just "distancing from the Hashicorp offerings"... it's that we're not the fork, they are.

The software we're talking about is an Open Source tool used by and contributed to by a huge community of individuals and companies. We're continuing that, Hashicorp is not. They are the fork... we're the real thing. That's why a name like "terrafork" won't do, neither will "lunarspoon" or even "gaiamorph". We're not the fork, nor an imitation, we're the continuing incarnation of the community.

In that light "tofu" is not out, but a better choice would a good name that has absolutely no association whatsoever with Hashicorp's product.

Let me add here that I have zero anger toward Hashicorp and nothing but respect for the engineers who created terraform and Hashicorp's other very good products. They had the right to make the choice they did, but I think it was the wrong choice, and the enormous momentum behind OpenTF shows that most of the community thinks so too. So we need to take that momentum and use it to make sure that the definitive IaC tool that almost everyone uses in the future is an Open Source one. And for now it seems like that's what's going to happen and in a year's time most people will almost have forgotten that this tool used to be called terraform. So why use a name that would remind them? Hashicorp has made their choice, we owe them nothing.

[lens0021]

I am thinking including "fork" in the name is not a sort of good idea, as this project will proceed over just being a fork.

[aaajhs]

I'd like to throw Rafter out there.

Why?

1. Notice how the term is an incomplete, partial anagram of Terraform. We take the core of what Terraform is, to build something new, while leaving behind what's not essential. While we may not have all the bells and whistles HashiCorp may provide in the future, we still have what's actually important for the community to build upon together.
2. It subtly hints at the word "Crafter", highlighting that all of us in this new OpenTF community are all crafters of infrastructure.
3. Apparently a "rafter" is a critical component in building construction, as it forms the foundational support structure for the roof, ensuring the entire building stands strong and secure. This reflects our goal with OpenTF - to create a solid foundation for infrastructure management.
4. Also, picture someone leaving a Terraformed land on a raft in search of freedom. What do we call this person? A "raft-er" ;)

Edit) The t and f are also still there, if it helps resemble the .tf extension somehow.

[emocharnik]

I like tofu for its simplicity and matching the .tf extension, but I'm afraid it could be harder for organic search in Google.

I'd also like to throw nubilus - the name is derived from the Latin word "nubes" which means "cloud". The "nubilus" could symbolize a deity responsible for the digital realm, including cloud-based technology and data storage.

[pauldraper]

we're not the fork, they are

a better choice would a good name that has absolutely no association whatsoever

So which is it? Is this the true continuation of the Terraform project, or something absolutely unrelated to the Terraform project?

If it's the continuation, then why not a name that reflects that?

---

The allergy to Terraform references is relevant solely for avoiding trademark infringement. The name "OpenTF" was (and is) perfectly acceptable, except for that concern.

Do one think less of Linux because its name is derived from Unix? Does that make it "lesser" or "subordinate" to Unix? Of course not.

In every practical sense, the OpenTF community is benefited from association with Terraform. Naturally, since -- as you say @jebotz -- it is the continuation of Terraform. It has no reason to downplay that.

[pauldraper]

Crafter is more semantically relevant than Rafter.

[mwalser]

I find @Magnitus- suggestion of Declair really nice. It hints to the declarative nature of the product, sounds nice when pronounced, seems to be reasonable easy to search and also reminds me of the pastry éclair.

[jebotz]

So which is it? Is this the true continuation of the Terraform project, or something absolutely unrelated to the Terraform project?

It's the true continuation of the IaC project formerly known as terraform, but "terraform" isn't a project, it's just a name that happens to owned by someone else.

If it's the continuation, then why not a name that reflects that?

Because we don't need to be a reflection, we need to be the definitive infastructure as code tool. Have the name reflect that, directly, is what I'm saying.

[martinkellydigital]

tofu is the clear leader around this office for reasons mentioned above. it's cool, distinctive, short, and has mnemonic inertia (tfutils, tfenv, tfscaffold, TACOS etc all still work)

[cgetzen]

Kubernetes: kubectl
Infrastructure: ictl, infctl, infractl?

[lens0021]

I like Declair because I did not understand what Terraform terraformed. Besides, declaration is the key feature of the project, isn't it?

[unacceptable]

Hey team! 👋

Just my two cents: tofu might be a hard to gain traction in the existing community. It might help sell the name if tofu was an acronym. I was thinking something like the following:

• Terraform Open and Free for Users
• Template Oriented Free Utility
• Total Orchestration & Framework Utility
• Template Oriented Framework Utility
• Total Orchestration Framework Upgrade
• Tailored Optimized Functional Utility
• etc.

What is everyone else's thoughts?

[dvaumoron]

Hi @unacceptable,

An acronym would be fun, but linking to Terraform which is an Hashicorp owned trademarks could lead to legal problem as stated by @roni-frantchi (#296 (comment))

My try would be a recursive one inspired by your first proposal : Tofu Open and Free for Users

[unacceptable]

I love a good recursive acronym! I am a fan of "Tofu Open and Free for Users".

[jwhy89]

I'm glad we didn't let the entire internet decide!
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/world/europe/boaty-mcboatface-what-you-get-when-you-let-the-internet-decide.html

[astrolemonade]

I think Open Tofu is a terrible name.
Why?
Tofu does not exists so it cannot be a version of it that is Open(me thinks).
Just Tofu would have been better than Open Tofu!

[Frikki]

Do one think less of Linux because its name is derived from Unix?

Linus Torvalds had wanted to call his invention Freax, a portmanteau of "free", "freak", and "x" (as an allusion to Unix). During the start of his work on the system, he stored the files under the name "Freax" for about half a year. Torvalds had already considered the name "Linux" but initially dismissed it as too egotistical.

In order to facilitate development, the files were uploaded to the FTP server (ftp.funet.fi) of FUNET in September 1991. Ari Lemmke at Helsinki University of Technology (HUT), who was one of the volunteer administrators for the FTP server at the time, did not think that "Freax" was a good name. So, he named the project "Linux" on the server without consulting Torvalds. Later, however, Torvalds consented to "Linux".

"Just for fun : the story of an accidental revolutionary" by Torvalds, Linus; Diamond, David.

@pauldraper

[stephenlb]

Looking forward to using the tofu command 🚀

[mariano-daniel]

OpenTofu it is then! <3

[edomaur]

OpenTofu then :-)

I forgot to submit my suggestions which were : Planetary, Factory (with and ft cli tool) and Watchmaker

[dotdc]

alias tf="tofu" will save us!

[rawtaz]

I must say.. The new name, OpenTofu (or anything with Tofu, for that matter), is absurdly bad. In the context of this project, it is nothing short of silly, childish, and what not (it basically went from being the most prominent infrastructure provisioning to something that comes across as nothing but a toy and something you would never consider in actual infrastructure work). I cannot even begin to fathom how anyone, being even the slightest serious, would ever come up with such a name. It's bad beyond words. I am not saying this with the intent to be disrespectful towards anyone, but the name is so bad that it calls for clear feedback. It really is.

I sincerely wish this name change had never happened. It's no longer possible to take this project seriously with a name like this (and this is highly unfortunate, considering the high importance the project). I hope that the foundation or project owners as soon as possible realize the sillyness of the situation and renames it back or to a better name. I cannot be more serious when I tell you that I genuinely though this was an Aprils fools' joke when I first read about it :-) I could never imagine anyone coming up with this and being serious about it, so that was one heck of a surprise!

Take care everyone. Again, no harm intended.

[pauldraper]

Is "Tofu" more or less serious then "Java"?

…

On Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 5:57 PM rawtaz ***@***.***> wrote: I must say.. The new name, OpenTofu (or anything with Tofu, for that matter), is *absurdly* bad. In the context of this project, it is nothing short of silly, childish, and what not. I cannot even begin to fathom how anyone, being even the slightest serious, would ever come up with such a name. It's bad beyond words. I am not saying this with the intent to be disrespectful towards anyone, but the name is so bad that it calls for clear feedback. It really is. I sincerely wish this name change had never happened. It's no longer possible to take this project seriously with a name like this (and this is highly unfortunate, considering the high importance the project). I hope that the foundation or project owners as soon as possible realize the sillyness of the situation and renames it back or to a better name. I cannot be more serious when I tell you that I genuinely though this was an Aprils fools' joke when I first read about it :-) I could never imagine anyone coming up with this and being serious about it, so that was one heck of a surprise! Take care everyone. Again, no harm intended. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#296 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAKWTB3RV5PPFUVXX4PHKG3X3TH7LANCNFSM6AAAAAA4NCFT4I> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[skyzyx]

Regardless of how any individual person feels about the new name, a decision has been made, and this particular ship has sailed.

It's time to move forward. Let's focus on the next set of decisions.

[edomaur]

If "Tofu" more or less serious then "Java"?

Or more or less serious than "Python" (remember where the name come from) or "Puppet", or even "Ansible", or... "git" ? Tofu (a new Trusted Orchestration Framework Utility) is short and introduce a different subtext than "terraform" (which didn't even play much on the terraforming idea).

Now, we can use "tofu recipes" to push cloud meals. Tofu goes well with Salt, and so on, English speakers are probably better than that to find playful wordplay :-)

I don't much like the Tofu name, but I can work with it (I'm also working with a tool called "git", if this is not a bad name I'm not sure which would qualify)

[lens0021]

Tofu (a new Trusted Orchestration Framework Utility)

I've not heard the acronym and it is cool. Can it be official?

[dvaumoron]

I agree with @skyzyx, the choice has been made, moreover would it really seem serious if the project change his name several times until no one claims disliking it ? I don't think so.

In the end, the success or failure of the project will not depend on that, as stated, there are already many example of successfull projects with more or less ridiculous names.

[dvaumoron]

Tofu (a new Trusted Orchestration Framework Utility)

I've not heard the acronym and it is cool. Can it be official?

Implying that we want the tool to be trusted is great, but i am not sure that Orchestration is relevant, besides that, Framework can function as a reference to the provider ecosystem.

New try : Trusted Open Framework Utility

[bluszcz]

Actually there is a game engine called Tofu:

[bluszcz]

Also, command line tofu is being used as well by same project:

[igalklebanov]

Actually there is a game engine called Tofu:

Are we listing 52 star GH projects now as opposition to the new name?

[samuel-phan]

If "Tofu" more or less serious then "Java"?

We can add also "Chef" with its cookbooks, the knife command.

And Bun for Javascript 💦

Or Golang with Gophers everywhere.
Or Rust...

People have always like cute fun names with a mascot. We could have named instead infractl but it's so boring, with just bones and no flesh.

[rawtaz]

To those comparing this issue with other software/projects using funky names; It's not the same thing. There's quite a difference between projects coming up with their own creative names more or less from the start, vs renaming a project like Terraform to such a name. I am not against fun and creative names, in fact they are just awesome when used at the right time! But taking something that is established as being the most serious contender in its market, and turning it into a ridiculous name that has absolutely no connection to what the software is about, that's a totally different matter. Had it been a new product, e.g. like Pulumi, I would not have raised any concerns if it was named Tofu from the start. It's the turning of what Terraform is and its established image, into Tofu, that is the huge problem here ;)

Let's digress. The train sailed. Arguably bad decisions were made and we will have to adapt to them. It's not the end of the world, it just hurts the image of the project but not fatally. It is what it is. I just felt it was so mindblowingly unfortunate that I had to state my opinion (even if it makes no difference). Thanks.

[Edited due to popular demand - you downvoted, I listened 🤣]

[marcinwyszynski]

The train sailed

That gave me a chuckle @rawtaz. Jokes aside, it is what it is. Some love it, some hate it, some don't care. Could be better, could be worse. We move on, there's a ton of work to be done.

[headerl0gged]

I used terraform a lot. but I don't like this new name honestly =))

[inaun]

I understand the "ship has sailed". But I feel I still need to comment. I have been aware of this project for a long time, and it has again come to my attention because of the recent announcement that IBM is acquiring Hashicorp. But I have to say I immediately disregarded (and still do) OpenTofu because of the name. It just screams "not a serious enterprise-class project".

A point was made comparing Tofu to Java. I'm old enough to remember when Java first came around. It got some of the same pushback, but not much. "Java" was something developers could embrace and smile at. We all work long hours, and most of us love our coffee! It was at a time when coffee was becoming more serious, and "Java" captured the essence of moving from the same old black stuff to a more refined and better caffeine fix. Not just coffee, java. It was not silly for the sake of silly, it was a connecting point with the target user base.

Chef was also called out as a comparison. But again, Chef connects. It actually describes! It is a creative name that precisely touches on what the product does. And again, Chef creates positive connotations to the project, ringing true as a creative name.

Tofu, on the other hand, is not largely loved. Tofu, in fact, has a lot of negative connotations for many people. Rather than connect with the target user base, it gives many of them immediate negative feelings. Using Tofu as a name for a project like this makes us immediately wonder "what were they thinking?" And, I'm sorry, but it also makes us wonder if the people who started and maintain this project actually know what they are doing. I'm sure they do, but the name automatically makes us question it. It makes many of us immediately think "it's worse than Terraform" instead of thinking "it might be better".

It might be time to call that ship back to port and do some retrofitting. If this project can't even manage a serious name that rings true with its target audience, why would its target audience want to even give it a chance? More than that, if the contributors to this project can't take serious feedback on the terrible name, how can we think they will take feature feedback and requests into consideration?

[cube2222]

@inaun

how can we think they will take feature feedback and requests into consideration?

I would just encourage you to look at how we actually handle community requests and community contributions. The project already has over a 100 distinct contributors, and we've accepted numerous community-proposed changes. There's of course still lot's of room for improvement here, but I believe we're not doing too bad on that dimension.

Generally, the name is just slightly controversial. Most don't particularly care, some love it, some hate it. A ton of projects have "weird" names (see CockroachDB, though I think it's a fantastic name) and have no trouble succeeding in an enterprise setting. None of the enterprises we've interacted with had any issue with the name.

It's also worth noting that the name (tofu) came up completely independently in (both internal, and external like this one) name brainstorms/polls, and won each of them - again, completely independently. This solidifies my belief that, in general, our community is happy with the name. It's also really catchy and easy to remember.

It warms my heart that the Vault fork decided to continue with this naming scheme and called their project OpenBao.