For the open-source community, there are few events as authentic as the Southern California Linux Expo, better known as SCaLE. It’s the largest community-run open-source conference in North America. So, it made perfect sense that the OpenInfra Foundation chose to co-locate its “OpenInfra Days North America” event right alongside it this year in Pasadena.

It wasn’t just a booth; it was a full two-day track dedicated to the building blocks of our digital world. If SCaLE is the festival for the entire open-source community, OpenInfra Days was the “backstage” where the builders of the core infrastructure gathered.

Here’s a quick recap of the key themes that dominated the conversations.

1. The Great Migration: Moving Beyond VMware

This was arguably the hottest topic. With recent shifts in the virtualization landscape, organizations are actively searching for stable, open-source alternatives. The OpenInfra track was packed with sessions and real-world case studies on:

  • Practical migration strategies from VMware to OpenStack.
  • Tools and techniques to simplify the process.
  • Cost-benefit analyses from companies that have already made the leap.

The message was clear: OpenStack isn’t just a viable alternative; it’s a mature, robust solution that operators are turning to right now for cost efficiency and control.

2. AI is Infrastructure (and Vice-Versa)

The AI and GenAI buzz was everywhere, but the OpenInfra talks cut through the hype and focused on the practicalities. The community is focused on answering the question: “How do we run this?”

Discussions centered on:

  • Using OpenStack and Kubernetes (K8s) to manage massive GPU workloads.
  • Leveraging Kata Containers for secure, isolated AI environments.
  • How projects like Zuul are being used to build CI/CD pipelines for machine learning models.
  • The future of AI in open source and how OpenInfra projects can power it.

3. Community and the Next Generation

Beyond the tech, the event was a powerful reminder that “open source” is all about the people.

  • The OpenInfra Foundation hosted a “Meet and Greet” with its leadership, giving community members direct access to the people steering the projects.
  • There was a fantastic session on the OpenInfra University Partnership Program, highlighting efforts to get students involved in core open-source projects before they graduate.
  • And, of course, there was a celebration for OpenStack’s 15th Birthday, which brought together veterans and newcomers alike.

The takeaway: The partnership between OpenInfra and SCaLE is a perfect fit. It connects the builders of core infrastructure (OpenStack, Ceph, Kata, StarlingX) with the massive, diverse community of users, developers, and sysadmins who depend on it every day.