Merge branch...

Merge branch '597-for-nameworthy-oas-alternatives-explain-the-difference-between-them-and-oas' into 'master'

Resolve "For nameworthy OAS alternatives, explain the difference between them and OAS."

Closes #597

See merge request openappstack/openappstack!297

docs/comparable_projects.md

+# Comparable projects
+
+Other open source projects similar to OpenAppStack exist. Each of the platforms
+listed here, like OpenAppStack, provide a suite of open source cloud
+applications. Each of the platforms, like OpenAppStack, include their own user
+management dashboard and all of them offer single sign-on (SSO) features.
+
+However there are changes in implementation that make OpenAppStack different
+from these alternatives. As far as we found, none of the projects listed
+below will automatically update your applications without you having to push a
+button, for example.
+
+**[Sandstorm](https://sandstorm.io)** allows applications to be installed as so
+called Grains. Each grain is a copy of the complete application made for a
+specific purpose. For example, a grain for document editor "Etherpad" contains
+not only the data written in the notepad, but also the Etherpad and database
+software. If you have two notepads, you also have two copies of the software.
+With many users, this approach can run into limits.
+
+**[YunoHost](https://yunohost.org)** is mostly based on Debian and its package
+management and user management system. As a result, Yunohost is relatively lightweight.
+However, another result of this is that it is likely that if one of
+the applications on your Yunohost contain a security hole, the data of the other
+applications is compromised as well. This is less likely in OpenAppStack because
+it separates the environments of applications from each other to seal them off.
+
+**[Cloudron](https://cloudron.io)** offers a similar application suite. In
+contrast to OpenAppStack, Cloudron [requires a paid
+account](https://cloudron.io/pricing.html) if you want to use more than two
+applications or more than five users.
+
+All mentioned platforms require applications running on it to be changed in some
+way, for example to make use of the authentication system. OpenAppStack tries to
+steer clear of changing the applications it includes. As long as they support
+OpenID Connect, so you can sign into it, we can usually run the application
+as-is. In most cases, OpenAppStack will only need one intervention before an
+update can be pushed to users: it needs to be tested. We want to make sure that
+an application works together with the platform and other applications before we
+let you use it. We work towards a fully automated test suite, so even this would
+not require human intervention.

docs/index.rst

@@ -32,5 +32,6 @@ For more information, go to `the OpenAppStack website`_.
    troubleshooting
    maintenance
    upgrading
+   comparable_projects
    design
    reference