Portal:Marketing/OBS

This page is for preparing marketing strategy around the new OBS V2.0

Marketing Strategy Contributors

Sascha Manns, Andreas Jaeger, Bryen Yunashko, Marcus Rueckert, Adrian Schroeter,

Other volunteers?

Article Series

It is planned to release an Article Series about that topics:

What is OBS really? (Posting starts: May 8 2010)

Soon we can use the new openSUSE BuildService V2.0. But what is the openSUSE BuildService really?

Basic Defintion of OBS: The openSUSE Build Service is an open package and distribution development platform that provides a transparent infrastructure that allows developers to build for various major Linux distributions and architectures.

Ultimate Goal: Get people to collaborate on packages for openSUSE using an easy-to-use and effective toolset.

Key Features:

• New Web UI in 2.0 (Biggest feature)
• Platform for building your own distribution
• Provides early previews of software, thus leading to better documentation
• Provide open development platform for openSUSE
• Establish easy access by users to try out new or latest version of software
• OBS benefits both openSUSE development and upstream development
  • Upstream developers can package in multiple formats for wider user adoption
  • openSUSE developers and packagers can test software in home repositories before to formal repositories for general consumption.

Message: openSUSE Build Service is a platform for development and packaging of projects as well as building a distribution from the ground up in a collaborative environment. Its purpose is dual-pronged in that it provides a common ground for the openSUSE Community to contribute and build the openSUSE distribution, but also allows for independent software developers to provide packages of their software for multiple distributions, thereby expanding its potential consumer base, rather than just providing a self-compiling solution, a process for which not all consumers are familiar with. Among its many improvements in 2.0, OBS boasts an enhanced user experience via the Web UI.

There you can find the first Proposal: http://en.opensuse.org/File:ProductmarketingOBS.odt

Draft of 1.8 Announcement (by Andreas Jaeger)

The openSUSE Build Service is an open package and distribution development platform that provides a transparent infrastructure that allows developers to build for various major Linux distributions and architectures.

The openSUSE Build Service 1.8 release brings a couple of new features that have been implemented for usage by the MeeGo project. One theme is access control: Roles can now get assigned to user groups and projects can be hidden so that only certain users and groups can access them.

Developers will appreciate offline building with the osc command line client. The MeeGo project builds on Intel and ARM architectures, and therefore package building for the ARM architecture has seen improvements.

The openSUSE Build Service is an open system where different instances can connect to each other and this has been improved so that a connection happens in the background and does not block the server.

The openSUSE Build Service will be used by the MeeGo project which announces the build.meego.org website for building the MeeGo distribution using the 1.8 release.

User Targets

This section focuses on the immediate release period for OBS 2.0 which is scheduled for June 10.

• openSUSE Community at large
• Developers and packagers for openSUSE distro
• Developers who wish to build own distro from the ground up
• Upstream developers who wish to create binary packages for multiple architectures.

Short term strategy

This is for the period around the release of OBS 2.0 (10 June 2010)

• Announce release of OBS 2.0
• Possible renaming of OBS
  • Open Build Service - Powered by the openSUSE Community
• News
  • openSUSE Weekly News
  • Blogs
  • Contact media outlets/journalists
• Sneak peeks
• Screencasts
• Collaborate with OBS team to make sure we are on same page

Tasks:

• Create editorial calendar
• Write, Write, Write!
• Perform walkthroughs (http://build.opensuse.org/stage)
  • Create screenshots
  • Create screencasts
  • Verify that documentation is easy to understand and test drive. This is especially important for journalist ease of picking up the story.
• Identify upcoming events to announce OBS
• Build media contact list

Long Term Strategy

This centers on long term marketing strategy including and beyond release period for 2.0

• Develop talking points
• Develop slide presentations
• Develop materials for distribution
  • Brochures or Flyers
  • Information/Spec Sheet
• Artwork
• OBS University?
• CD Media?

• Begin talking about long-term goals of OBS next releases
• Ongoing articles about OBS
• Maintain good communication with OBS team for new information

Success Stories

To be used in both short and long term strategy

• Linux Foundation
• Meego
• Dell
• Cray
• See http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Build_Service_installations for other story leads

Status Report V1.8

• Planned for Week 17 (delay)

After Publishing we plan to publish an Article about new things in V1.8.

Status Update V2.0

• Release of V2.0 Beta 1 starts at 17. May 2010
• Release of V2.0 final starts at 10. June 2010

We plan to publish first Screenshots and maybe a weekly Status Report.

Interviews

• Lubos Lunak (llunak@suse.cz) - Cross Distro Computing
  • Interview sent
  • Interview published
• Gladhorn (gladhorn@kde.org) - KDE:Netbook
  • Interview sent Available here
  • Interview published
• Martin Mohrig (martin.mohring@opensuse.org) - LinuxFoundation/OBS
  • Interview sent
  • Interview published
• Anas Nashif (nashif@linux.intel.com) - Intel
  • Interview sent
  • Inerview published
• Marcus Rückert (darix@opensu.se) Factory submissions
  • Interview sent
  • Interview published
• Carsten Hoeger (choeger@opensuse.org) openexchange
  • Interview sent
  • Interview published
• Michael Brown Dell
  • Interview sent
  • Interview published
• Luke Imhoff (luke@cray.com) Cray, Inc.
  • Interview sent Available here
  • Interview published

Create Template for Interviews

• Create Template
• Questions

Marketing Plan

• Who is our target to reach?
  • Packagers
  • Other distros
    • Send Notice to the Medical Task Force (collaborative Packaging with openSUSE, Fedora and Debian)
    • Send Information to Fedora
    • Send Information to Debian
  • People interested to learn how to package
    • opensuse@ opensuse-de@ Motivate new ppl to packaging. Maybe an CommunityWeek or Weekend with Courses "How to packaging?"

• How will we reach them?
  • News media contacts (reach out to journalists)
    • Linux Weekly News -> jake@lwn.net
  • Blogs
    • The whole Marketing Team can blog on their own blogs
  • Social Media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
    • See Point "Publishing/facebook"
• What materials will we develop to reach them?
  • Articles
    • Introducing Article from Projects inside OBS
      • MeeGo
      • Education
      • ... TBF
  • Screencasts/Tutorials
    • Screenshots (Beta & Final)
    • Screencasts
      • Who can do it?
  • Other?
    • Develop Key Message
    • Develop Slogan
      • Proposal: openSUSE BuildService not just for openSUSE (Bryen)
      • Proposal: openSUSE build service - we also work for our neighbors (cbolz)
      • Proposal: Lets build together (Shayon)
      • Proposal: Your BuildService is my BuildService (saigkill)
    • ... TBF

Publishing

We plan to publish into the following:

• news.o.o -> feeds planet.o.o and twitter automaticly
• www.linux.com -> Inside the Range "DistroCentral". Maybe write an right Article for the front of linux.com
• twitter -> Whole Marketing Team can twitter from their own Account. I'm also twitter through @opensusewn.
• facebook -> Insert a link to the official Statement. Maybe creating an Event with the original launch and invite others to come to the event.
• linux-community.de -> German Newssite (from LinuxUser, LinuxMagazin and Easylinux).
• pro-linux.de -> German Newssite
• Linux Weekly News -> jake@lwn.net
• linuxgazette.net
• ...

If you find an other Source we can publish in, just add it.