Distributions
The OpenTelemetry projects consists of multiple components that support multiple data sources. The reference implementation of OpenTelemetry is available as:
From any reference implementation a distribution may be created.
What is a distribution?
A distribution, not to be confused with a fork, is customized version of an OpenTelemetry component. A distribution is a wrapper around an upstream OpenTelemetry repository with some customizations. Customizations in a distribution may include:
- Scripts to ease use or customize use for a specific back-end or vendor
- Changes to default settings required for a back-end, vendor, or end-user
- Additional packaging options that may be vendor or end-user specific
- Test, performance, and security coverage beyond what OpenTelemetry provides
- Additional capabilities beyond what OpenTelemetry provides
- Less capabilities from what OpenTelemetry provides
Distributions would broadly fall into the following categories:
- “Pure”: These distributions provide the same functionality as upstream and are 100% compatible. Customizations would typically be to ease of use or packaging. These customizations may be back-end, vendor, or end-user specific.
- “Plus”: These distributions provide the same functionality as upstream plus more. Customizations beyond those found in pure distributions would be the inclusion of additional components. Examples of this would include automatic instrumentation libraries or vendor exporters not upstreamed to the OpenTelemetry project.
- “Minus”: These distributions provide a reduced set of functionality from upstream. Examples of this would include the removal of automatic instrumentation libraries or receivers/processors/exporters/extensions found in the OpenTelemetry Collector project. These distributions may be provided to increase supportability and security considerations.
Who would create a distribution?
Anyone could create a distribution. Today, several vendors offer distributions. In addition, end-users may consider creating a distribution if they wish to use components in the Registry that are not upstreamed to the OpenTelemetry project.
Creating your own distribution
Collector
A guide on how to create your own distribution is available in this blog post: “Building your own OpenTelemetry Collector distribution”
If you are building your own distribution, the OpenTelemetry Collector Builder might be a good starting point.
What you should know about distributions
The OpenTelemetry project does not certify distributions at this time. In the future, OpenTelemetry may certify distributions and partners similarly to the Kubernetes project. When evaluating a distribution, ensure using the distribution does not result in vendor lock-in.
Any support for a distribution comes from the distribution authors and not the OpenTelemetry authors.