As we are starting 2024 this is a good opportunity to look back at what happened in Fedora CoreOS in 2023.
Let’s jump in straight with some raw numbers, using the rpm-ostree countme stats we can look at the evolution of number of FCOS instances in 2023. The following graph only looks at instances that have been running for at least 1 week
Fedora CoreOS Shows Strong Growth in 2023
Ignoring temporary dips due to counting infrastructure issues, Fedora CoreOS experienced impressive growth in 2023. The number of active instances nearly doubled, starting at below 20,000 and ending the year exceeding 40,000. This solid adoption and positive trend are exciting for the future of Fedora CoreOS!
Looking at other Fedora editions targeting similar user groups (Fedora Cloud and Fedora Server), FCOS still has fewer active instances. However, FCOS looks to have the highest growth rate in 2023. This trend is worth monitoring to see if it continues in 2024.
Opportunities in 2024:
In the coming year, we have the chance to:
- Increase promotional efforts for Fedora CoreOS.
- Identify and address adoption barriers for FCOS.
These initiatives will lay the groundwork for supporting the Fedora 2028 Strategy for immutable variants.
Additional Data from CoreOS GitHub:
Utilizing Cauldron.io, we can delve into raw data from the CoreOS GitHub repositories. For those interested in exploring further, you can access the CoreOS report. In 2023, we saw:
- 5,608 commits
- 682 issues created
- 608 issues closed
- 3,513 pull requests created
- 3,579 pull requests closed
2023 was undeniably a busy year for CoreOS!
Fedora CoreOS was also on the front page in 2023:
- Fedora CoreOS: What’s happened, what’s next
- CoreOS is Dead, Long Live CoreOS - DevConf.CZ 2023
- Fedora CoreOS News & How Columbia University Uses Fedora CoreOS
- Building Fedora CoreOS
Contributor Metrics:
We also use cauldron.io to track contributors, but it only considers commit data and doesn’t account for potential inaccuracies like bots or individuals using multiple email addresses.
Here’s a breakdown of contributions in 2023:
- Git authors: 121 total (69 new in 2023)
- Issue authors: 241 total (166 new in 2023)
- Pull request submitters: 130 total (72 new in 2023)
These are impressive contribution numbers! However, I suspect some of the 2023 contributors may not have continued active participation (“drive-by contributors”). I’d appreciate any insights on analyzing cauldron.io data to better understand this.