Hi all!!! With some delay, the rename has been decided upon and I wrote a draft announcement. Part of it has to be added still (the paragraph on the bottom and the quotes from other parties) but otherwise it is ready for your input.
SUSE will do a simultaneous announcement on the rename but focussed more on the fact they'll start to provide support for OBS from the 2.3 release onwards. Reminder: you promised to fix the wiki & help fix the OBS website. Adrian has set up a new site: http://www.suse.de/~adrian/open-build-service.org/ There is a placeholder text which needs your input! Send a replacement text or use an etherpad to work on one?!? ;-) Cheers, Jos
openSUSE renames OBS The openSUSE Build Service team has decided to rename its cutting-edge packaging- and distribution build technology to Open Build Service. The new name, while maintaining the well-known OBS acronym, signals its open and cross-distribution nature. The history The openSUSE Buildservice started out as an internal SUSE technology. In XXXX it was decided to open its source code and development process. From that point on, the scope of the openSUSE Build Service started to widen. First, with the additions of the XXXX build targets, later expanding to the current 21 build targets on 6 architectures. Support for more linux distributions is coming and Windows support being experimented with. But while 'OBS' is meant for a much wider audience than openSUSE, being used by projects and companies like VLC, MeeGo, Dell and many others, its name signals still a distribution-specific purpose. OBS is an unique piece of technology and certainly deserves to be known and used by a wide audience. Its features like integration with Source Code Management systems including GIT and Subversion and powerful collaboration features make the public instance on build.opensuse.org the preferred build technology for well over 27,000 users. Communication In communication about OBS its apparently openSUSE-specific nature can be a deterrent. It clearly takes additional effort to convince a potential user that despite the name, the openSUSE Build Service is not <em>just</em> for openSUSE but a distribution-independent technology. This effect is very apparent in face to face communication as you'll almost immediately hear others saying "No, I'm a Fedora user, sorry" when they hear about OBS. But the same effect leads to less people reading articles or visiting talks. As our openSUSE ambassadors around the world have been stepping up our communication and promotion around OBS, they have noticed this effect. After some discussion on the international marketing mailing list it was decided to recommend the OBS team to rename their technology to Open Build Service. This would retain the OBS acronym and excellent search engine position at the slight expense of a weakened link between the openSUSE community, where OBS originated, and the Build Service. But it would clearly signal the open and collaborative nature of OBS and allow OBS to spread its wings and reach an even wider audience, benefiting all of Free Software. Decision So after ample deliberation and discussion with all the major stakeholders, the OBS team has decided to rename the openSUSE Build Service to Open Build Service. It is and will remain an openSUSE project, with significant contributions from SUSE and openSUSE community members as well as many others from communities like MeeGo and VLC but also be more clear about its cross-distribution, cross-project goals and ambitions. The branding part of OBS will be adapted to make it easy for projects deploying their own OBS to name their OBS while staying connected with the OBS project. We suggest to name a project-specific OBS instance "XXX Open Build Service", like "VLC Open Build Service". <insert "we love OBS and the rename" quotes from MeeGo, VLC etc here> Enterprise support Meanwhile, SUSE Linux Products GmbH has announced SUSE OBS Developer Support, xxxxxxx
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