Formae: A New IaC Paradigm with PKL and FSL

The cloud infrastructure landscape, often a realm of complex scripts and proprietary languages, is bracing for a new contender.

Platform Engineering Labs has thrown its hat into the ring with formae, an Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tool that isn’t just seeking a slice of the pie; it’s aiming to bake an entirely new one.

At its core, formae is a direct challenge to the established order, promising a paradigm shift for DevOps and platform engineering teams grappling with the ever-expanding sprawl of cloud-based resources.

For too long, the refrain among infrastructure engineers has been a familiar one: the tools at hand, while powerful, often demand an almost esoteric level of dedication.

Pavlo Baron, co-founder and CEO of Platform Engineering Labs, articulates this frustration with a candidness that resonates across the industry.

“Everybody tells us our shell scripts are bad, our Bash is bad, our tools are bad,” he states, drawing a direct line to what he perceives as the equally convoluted nature of current IaC stalwarts.

His critique of tools like Terraform, suggesting one needs to “dance around to have a proper loop,” paints a vivid picture of the inefficiencies that plague modern infrastructure management.

Baron’s vision for formae is singular: to restore focus to platform engineers, allowing them to manage infrastructure changes with unprecedented granularity and without drowning in unnecessary detail.

In a world where agility is paramount, “focus is what lets you succeed,” he insists.

Formae’s approach to achieving this clarity is rooted in its choice of language.

Eschewing the domain-specific HCL used by Terraform and its open-source fork, OpenTofu, formae opts for PKL, a configuration-as-code language originally developed by Apple and now open-sourced under the Apache 2.0 license.

This isn’t merely a stylistic preference; it’s a strategic decision.

While other alternatives like the Cloud Native Computing Foundation-hosted KCL were considered, PKL was deemed “less advanced” by the Formae team, underscoring a commitment to what they believe is the most capable foundation for their ambitious project.

The platform operates in two distinct, yet complementary, modes: reconcile and patch.

Reconcile mode allows teams to define their desired environment as a definitive “source of truth” in PKL code, with formae diligently ensuring the running production environment aligns.

Patch mode, conversely, empowers engineers to apply minimal, targeted changes, validated by formae before deployment.

This dual approach offers flexibility, catering to different workflows and levels of desired control, a thoughtful nod to the diverse operational realities of engineering teams.

Currently focused on AWS, Formae’s ambitions stretch beyond a single cloud provider, with plans to support others like OVHcloud, particularly in Europe, where the push for data sovereignty is gaining significant geopolitical traction.

This strategic alignment highlights a broader understanding of the evolving landscape of cloud computing – one increasingly shaped by national interests and regional regulations.

Baron’s overarching goal – to “democratize access to infrastructure management” and make it work “for everybody in the way they actually expect it to work” – suggests a long-term vision that transcends mere technical utility, aiming for a more equitable and intuitive experience for all who touch cloud infrastructure.

However, no discussion of Formae would be complete without addressing its provocative choice of licensing.

Platform Engineering Labs has opted for the Functional Source License (FSL), a “source available” license that, while making the code accessible, restricts its usage in an attempt to curb “free riding.”

This decision immediately places Formae in the eye of a storm that has been brewing in the open-source world for years.

The FSL, an adaptation of the Business Source License (BSL) famously adopted by MariaDB and later by HashiCorp (before its acquisition by IBM), is a direct response to the perceived unsustainability of purely open-source models.

Companies, once staunch proponents of permissive licenses, have increasingly felt that commercial entities were leveraging their freely available code to build competing services without contributing back, undermining the original developers’ ability to maintain and innovate.

The repercussions of such licensing shifts are well-documented.

HashiCorp’s move away from an open-source license for Terraform directly spurred the creation of OpenTofu, a community-driven fork committed to maintaining an Apache 2.0 license.

Similarly, MongoDB’s Server Side Public License (SSPL) was outright rejected by the Open Source Initiative, the de facto arbiter of what constitutes “open source.”

While these “source available” licenses aim to protect commercial interests, they often breed skepticism within the developer community, raising concerns about long-term support, security patch handling, and the eventual conversion to truly open-source terms.

The sustainability of open-source projects is, without question, a critical issue, but the path chosen by Formae and others remains a contentious one, with market adoption of BSL-like licenses still relatively rare, and some companies, like Elastic, even reversing course.

Formae enters a market ripe for disruption.

Platform engineering, once a niche concept, is now a burgeoning discipline, acknowledging the distinct challenges of managing infrastructure.

As system administrators increasingly embrace developer-centric tools, the historical neglect of robust infrastructure tooling becomes glaringly apparent.

Formae joins a cohort of companies, including Pulumi and System Initiative, dedicated to elevating the platform engineer experience.

The recent AWS outage serves as a stark reminder that efficiency, while desirable, can carry significant reliability risks.

Hedging against single points of failure, whether a cloud provider or a network, demands sophisticated, multi-provider tools that can manage complexity without spiraling costs.

Coupled with seismic industry shifts – Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, IBM’s absorption of HashiCorp, and escalating geopolitical tensions – the need for resilient, adaptable infrastructure management has never been more pressing.

Formae, with its bold technical choices and controversial licensing, is not just offering a new tool; it’s asking the industry to rethink how it builds and sustains the digital foundations of our interconnected world.

Whether its audacious vision will be embraced or become another footnote in the ongoing debate over digital sovereignty and open-source economics remains to be seen.