Open-services.net is a community site and wiki supporting the creation of specifications for product and software delivery resources and the services for accessing them (see The Case for Open Services for background). By resources, we mean the artifacts that are used and manipulated in the process of software delivery -- for example, requirements, test plans, and work items. Resource specifications are expressed in both descriptive (text) and xml forms. In addition, the specifications describe expected behavior of REST services on the resources. In a nutshell, OSLC is focused on exposing ALM and PLM resources as linked data.

This site is operated by IBM and is open to anyone who would like to contribute to or track the progress of the proposed specs. Conversations about these specifications take place here, in the open. The intent in providing the site is to solicit a broad range of ideas for how resources might be described and to find consensus on a set of formats and services. Just as important, we want to encourage the use and implementation of the specs by those that provide commercial, open source, or in-house developed tools. The license terms for the site were written with these goals in mind. All contributions are submitted under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which allows all of the site content to be made available under that same license. Additionally, all contributors agree to a covenant not to assert patent claims on implementations of the specifications. Other patent holders can also agree to the covenant to encourage adoption of the specifications. Please see terms of use for the detailed terms and conditions for the site and contributed content.

Authoring process

Each topic area on the community wiki has a designated topic lead who guides the specification through a four step process:

1. 1.Scoping stage: scenarios are proposed, documented, and prioritized. Decisions are made on which scenarios and technical objectives will be tackled in this version of a specification.
   

2. 2.Draft stage: strawman spec proposals are surfaced, and interested parties comment on and contribute to a proposed Specification through a series of drafts.
   

3. 3.Convergence stage: there is sufficient consensus that a draft warrants consideration as a final Specification. The broader community is invited to review and comment on the draft Specification. Implementations and  prototypes are initiated and the draft Specification is refined. Additionally, the final list of contributors is documented and formal documentation of the contributor patent covenant statements is gathered and published as part of the Specification.
   

4. 4.Finalization stage: the Specification is put under tight control while final polish and detailed editing is completed. Additionally, implementation feedback is sought out and any identified errors or unclear language is corrected. Once the version of the final Specification is deemed complete, it is called a final Specification and the wiki pages for the Specification are locked to prevent further editing.
   

Its conceivable (even likely) that new versions of specifications will be proposed as new ideas or new uses for the resources are revealed or if the scope of a given topic is expanded. Based on the interest of members of the community, its also conceivable that specifications may be included as part of future proposals to formal standards bodies. The standards process is beyond the scope of open-services.net; the focus of the site is on the earlier stages of community discovery and authoring of common specifications.

Starting up new topics

You can learn more about the operational aspects of OSLC specification workgroups, including how to start up new topics, on the OSLC wiki (here).

Contacting us

To get involved, simply register on the wiki and join the mailing list. If you have interest in a specific topic or specification, please introduce yourself to the topic lead who is identified on the topic's home page. All discussions on topic scope, scenarios, and draft specifications should be directed through the wiki and mailing list.

For general problems or suggestions for the site, please send e-mail to webmaster@open-services.net.

Special inquiries can be directed to bosworth@us.ibm.com.