Merge "Adding introduction"

doc/source/code-and-documentation/index.rst

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Code & Documentation Contributor Guide
    :caption: Code and Documentation Contributors
    :maxdepth: 2
 
+   /common/introduction
    /common/irc
    /common/accounts
    /common/git

doc/source/common/governance.rst

@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ Project Team Leads are `elected
 for each release cycle by Active Project Contributors: individuals who have
 contributed to the project in the last two release cycles.
 
+.. _special-interest-groups:
+
 Special Interest Groups
 -----------------------
 

doc/source/common/introduction.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+############
+Introduction
+############
+
+What is OpenStack?
+==================
+
+Software
+--------
+
+OpenStack is a software package that provides a cloud platform for Public and
+Private cloud covering various use cases including Enterprise and Telecom.
+The main focus is on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud and additional
+services built upon IaaS.
+
+As a software, OpenStack is built from a set of microservices which can be
+combined into different setups based on the actual need.
+The services provide REST APIs for their users. These can be the cloud
+operators or other services. To make the usage of the APIs easier it is
+possible to use Software Development Kits (SDKs) which are also developed
+as projects inside the OpenStack community.
+
+Documentation is very important for the community so you can find guidelines
+about how to install and use the services developed by the project teams on
+the `documentation website for OpenStack <https://docs.openstack.org>`_.
+
+The services developed by the community are available as tarballs to install
+them from source and are also picked up and packaged to make it available for
+different Linux distributions or as part of OpenStack distributions.
+
+Map of OpenStack projects
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+.. image:: /_assets/introduction/map-of-OpenStack-projects.png
+    :scale: 80 %
+
+Community
+---------
+
+OpenStack is a community working towards one mission:
+
+To produce a ubiquitous Open Source Cloud Computing platform that **is** easy
+to use, simple to implement, interoperable between deployments, works well at
+**all** scales, **and** meets the needs of users and operators of both public
+**and** private clouds.
+
+OpenStack provides an ecosystem for collaboration. It has infrastructure for
+
+* Code review
+* Testing
+* CI
+* Version control
+* Documentation
+* a set of collaboration tools, like a wiki, IRC chanels, Etherpad
+  and Ethercalc.
+
+The four opens
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The basic princinples of the OpenStack community are the four opens.
+
+* `Open source <https://governance.openstack.org/tc/reference/opens.html#open-source>`_
+* `Open design <https://governance.openstack.org/tc/reference/opens.html#open-design>`_
+* `Open development <https://governance.openstack.org/tc/reference/opens.html#open-development>`_
+* `Open Community <https://governance.openstack.org/tc/reference/opens.html#open-community>`_
+
+Groups
+------
+
+There are lots of people working on OpenStack organized into different groups.
+These are described in the the :ref:`special-interest-groups` section of
+the Governance chapter.
+
+What is a contribution?
+=======================
+
+In open source projects a contribution can be anything which helps the project
+to accomplish its mission. In addition to code contribution it can be testing,
+documentation, requirements gathering, bug reporting and so forth.

doc/source/operators/index.rst

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Operators' Contributor Guide
    :caption: Operator Contributors
    :maxdepth: 2
 
+   /common/introduction
    /common/irc
    /common/accounts
    /common/communication