Shane, This response pains me more than you could know.
At one point I would have agreed with you on the CloudStack vs. OpenStack awareness versus code but the fact of the matter is that by creating the brand impressions OpenStack has attracted a larger developer base and has erased much of the technical debt it had relative to CloudStack two years ago. The latest Coverity scan shows a higher defect rate than other Apache projects too(http://clds.co/1jriKFj) and I suspect a comparable if not better defect rate. I symptom of a user base that experiences linear versus the exponential growth many open source projects like Linux, the Apache Web Server and MySQL experience. I will say given the limited brand awareness of CloudStack it has as very good code base and exceptional amount of deploys but I don’t think that it supports your hypothesis. I really think that the point could be or should be, “Your project’s brand is AS IMPORTANT as your code?” and that a strong brand draws user and developer confidence into investing in your project. If our brand was stronger I think our code would be stronger but there’s only one way to prove that theory. I wouldn’t want to see CloudStack as the cautionary tale slide in your preso. I don’t like to compare open source projects but I think you could make a compelling slide showing the velocity of OpenStack adoption versus the press they received. Press Mentions of OpenStack over time - http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=openstack Activity - http://activity.openstack.org/data/display/OPNSTK2/All+Projects+Activity+Dashboard+-+Last+30+Days?src=contextnavchildmode If you mapped their activity and overlaid it with press mentions I think you’d effectively make your point. I wish that there was a compelling CloudStack way to support your hypothesis but I don’t see it. Regards, Mark On Jul 14, 2014, at 9:34 AM, Shane Curcuru <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I'm submitting an OSCON Ignite talk in a couple of hours about "Why your project's brand is more important than the code" and it occurred to me (since I still have one blank slide, and my deadline looms in a few hours to submit slides) that CloudStack vs. OpenStack would be a good example in some ways. I already have some slides on "how do you choose a new product in a new technical area you haven't worked in", and think that adding a third slide on how OpenStack would come to the top if you were rating them both on brand impressions, but CloudStack would come out on top if you were looking at the code or seeing the actual real-world running code impacts. Existing slides: - So you're a database person who needs to break into front end design. There are all these JS frameworks to choose from (logos around person). How do you choose? - You don't have time to read all the code of all of them, so you optimize - you choose a shortlist to download evals and build code demos of a couple, and then choose one from there. But how did you optimize your shortlist? You relied on the brand impression from all the JS frameworks to choose the shortlist. - Potential new slide: OpenStack and CloudStack logos opposing each other) For example, which of these two has a better impression in your mind, right now, right here? The suits here almost certainly said OpenStack; a much stronger brand. But CloudStack has the better code / more deploys / what??? Anyone want to give me 10 seconds of script to talk up here about the difference? Please cc: me since I'm not on this list. - Shane
