An OpenTelemetry Collector is a vendor-neutral service component that receives, processes, and exports telemetry. It can gather logs, metrics, and traces from applications, transform them into OTLP, and forward them to another compatible collector or analysis tool. section 1.3.2
Fluent Bit can perform collector-like and exporter-like functions, but calling it OTLP-compliant avoids confusing it with the OpenTelemetry project's own collector implementation. section 1.3.2
Figure 1.3 Fluent Bit’s relationship with OpenTelemetry with apps generating OTel logs, metrics, and traces and Fluent Bit facilitating their transmission to an OTel-compliant point of aggregation or processing. Applications can send OTLP data directly or via an OTel component, and we can route data to other OTel services or analysis tools.
Trace how applications produce logs, metrics, and traces, then send OTLP data through Fluent Bit or another OpenTelemetry component toward aggregation, processing, or analysis. section 1.3.2
