openSUSE Vision

openSUSE Conference 2015 keynote by the openSUSE Board

Transcript

1. openSUSE Vision Envisioning more publicity The openSUSE Board board@opensuse.org
2. 2 Who are we? • As openSUSE approaches it's 10th Anniversary the Project can be said to suffer from an 'identity crisis' • Common questions heard from both existing community members and potential new contributors illuminate this problem ‒ “Who are we making this for?” ‒ “Why should I use openSUSE?” ‒ “Why should I contribute to openSUSE?” ‒ “What makes openSUSE special?”
3. 3 “The openSUSE Project is a worldwide effort that promotes the use of Linux everywhere.” - openSUSE wiki
4. 4 What's the problem with that? • Targeting 'everyone, everywhere' can be seen to be targeting 'no one, nowhere' • Current messaging centered around 'try our distribution and tools', but this is currently undirected ‒ “Who should be interested in our distributions and tools?”
5. 5 Not all bad news • Despite these problems, the openSUSE community continues to grow • Solid praise for openSUSE 13.2 • Very positive feedback and growth in the openSUSE Tumbleweed user and contributor base • Growing interest in our tools. eg OBS and openQA
6. 6 Providing Definition • The openSUSE Board came to the conclusion that defining a Vision for the openSUSE Project based on our strengths, could provide a new focus and excitement to help bring new users & contributors into the Project. • This should not redefine the Project or force a new direction upon it.
7. 7 Identifying our strengths - Tools • Open Build Service ‒ Continual and growing interest from other projects • openQA ‒ Recently adopted by Red Hat for testing Fedora • YaST ‒ Still seen as the best GUI administration tool for Linux • KIWI ‒ The power behind SUSE Studio, which has significant appeal to new users • Snapper, and more...
8. 8 Identifying our strengths - Distributions • Tumbleweed ‒ Latest Software provided in a fast-but-stable way ‒ Primary Development Focus of the Community ‒ Growing User & Contributor base • Regular Release ‒ Community built Linux OS released every 8-12 months ‒ Of decreasing development interest to the Community ‒ Loyal User Base
9. 9 Tumbleweed is being used
10. 10 SLE Sources • SUSE have announced that they are providing much of the SLE sources and updates in OBS • An openSUSE Distribution built on top of this could replace the current 'openSUSE Regular Release' • Could appeal to the core audience of the current Regular Release ‒ Depends on how we utilize the SLE Sources
11. 11 Identifying our strengths - Variety • As a result of our tools and distribution development, openSUSE offers a very broad selection of Open Source software • Tumbleweed contains about 8000 packages and growing • OBS provides many more in Devel: projects
12. 12 openSUSE's areas of strength Tools • Open Build Service • openQA • YaST • KIWI • Etc.. Distributions • Tumbleweed • Regular Release Packages • Broad Variety
13. 13 Finding our Audience(s) • The Board considered 4 main audiences that openSUSE's offerings may appeal to ‒ ISVs ‒ Desktop Users ‒ System Administrators ‒ Developers
14. 14 Ruling out ISVs • Despite identifying that ISVs could have a strong interest in openSUSE's offerings, the Board eliminated them as a potential Target Audience for several reasons ‒ Retaining openSUSE as a community orientated project ‒ Desire to avoid potential conflicts of interest with SUSE ‒ Perception that ISVs were primarily interested in commercial gain
15. 15 Desktop Users • Broad Variety Desktop Users Tools • Open Build Service • openQA • YaST • KIWI • Etc.. Distributions • Tumbleweed • Regular Release Packages • Broad Variety
16. 16 Desktop Users • openSUSE has a vibrant desktop community ‒ 100% community maintained KDE offering which is widely seen as the best available ‒ GNOME, on openSUSE used as demonstration platform by the upstream GNOME Project ‒ XFCE, LXDE, Enlightenment, etc. No other distributions have as many desktops on offer • openSUSE distributions appeal to this audience ‒ Tumbleweed – Enthusiastic/Power Users ‒ Regular Release – Conservative/Basic Users
17. 17 Desktop Users • Ubuntu is the primary competition in this area ‒ Strong focus on Ease of Use ‒ Broad appeal for new Linux users ‒ “The King of the General Linux Desktop” ‒ Excellent PR • While Desktop Users enjoy the output of our tools, rarely leverage them directly • General Linux Desktop users rarely convert into new contributors
18. 18 Desktop Users - Conclusion • While the Desktop should be part of the openSUSE Vision, the Board concluded that the General Linux Desktop should not be a focus • However, leveraging our strength in Desktops could accentuate our message to both the Developer and SysAdmin/Dev Ops audiences
19. 19 System Administrators • Broad Variety SysAdmins Tools • Open Build Service • openQA • YaST • KIWI • Etc.. Distributions • Tumbleweed • Regular Release Packages • Broad Variety
20. 20 System Administrators • openSUSE is a strong choice for SysAdmins ‒ YaST is the best GUI SysAdmin tool for Linux ‒ Tools like OBS & KIWI support more 'developer orientated' SysAdmins to build their custom packages and images ‒ Shared heritage/ongoing alignment with SUSE Products • openSUSE's regular release strongly appeals to this audience ‒ Tumbleweed is moving too fast for many SysAdmins
21. 21 System Administrators • Fedora is making a concerted push in this area ‒ openSUSE maintains an edge with tools and package availability ‒ openSUSE regular releases make an exceptionally powerful platform with both great stability and a wide range of community packages, better than Fedora • SysAdmins have a tendency to convert into new contributors ‒ The current DevOps trend accelerates this
22. 22 System Administrators - Conclusion • SysAdmins has a strong potential as a focal audience for the openSUSE Project • SysAdmins who lean more towards Developers/DevOps are likely to find openSUSE even more appealing as they are able to leverage a broader range of our tools and packages
23. 23 Developers • Broad Variety Developers Tools • Open Build Service • openQA • YaST • KIWI • Etc.. Distributions • Tumbleweed • Regular Release Packages • Broad Variety
24. 24 Developers, Developers, Developers • openSUSE is a great choice for Developers ‒ Tumbleweed provides a great development platform with the latest software stacks and IDEs without breakage ‒ Tools like OBS empower developers to build their packages for openSUSE and other platforms ‒ openSUSE regular releases provide a stable platform for developers to test their software • Developers naturally convert into new contributors to openSUSE
25. 25 Developers • Arch and Gentoo are strong competitors in this area ‒ Tumbleweed rolls faster across the whole operating system ‒ Tumbleweed provides better stability thanks to openQA & Staging ‒ Neither has a platform like openSUSE regular releases for testing & preparation for deployment on Enterprise Linux ‒ openSUSE distributions are easier to install and maintain ‒ AUR enables Arch to have a similar package selection, but OBS enables developers to build packages for multiple distributions
26. 26 Developers - Conclusion • Developers should be a prime audience for the openSUSE Project • Regardless of the type of development (OS, Web, Desktop, etc) openSUSE provides a compelling set of tools and platforms ‒ Minus some dark corners! • Developers and System Administrators are Desktop Users ‒ The Desktop IS important
27. 27 openSUSE - The Makers Choice - Project Tagline Idea
28. 28 Next Steps • Sharing the Vision • Generate excitement • Just do it! • Replace www.opensuse.org website with a new website (already started during a recent Hackweek) that reflects this Vision
29. 29 On the way Replace www.opensuse.org website
30. 30 Take the plunge!
31. 31 Party?
32. Thank you. Join the conversation, contribute & have a lot of fun! www.opensuse.org
33. General Disclaimer This document is not to be construed as a promise by any participating organisation to develop, deliver, or market a product. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. openSUSE makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents of this document, and specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. The development, release, and timing of features or functionality described for openSUSE products remains at the sole discretion of openSUSE. Further, openSUSE reserves the right to revise this document and to make changes to its content, at any time, without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or changes. All openSUSE marks referenced in this presentation are trademarks or registered trademarks of SUSE LLC, in the United States and other countries. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. License This slide deck is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. It can be shared and adapted for any purpose (even commercially) as long as Attribution is given and any derivative work is distributed under the same license. Details can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Credits Template Richard Brown rbrown@opensuse.org Design & Inspiration openSUSE Design Team http://opensuse.github.io/branding- guidelines/