Open Build Service vs SCons
Open Build Service
openbuildservice.org
SCons
scons.orgSide by side
| Figure | Open Build Service | SCons |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Build Automation Software | 8.3 (#9) | 7.9 (#16) |
| Founded | 2005 | 2000 |
| License | OBS is free software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), and can be installed on users’ own hardware or in their data center. | SCons is distributed under the MIT open source license, which permits use, modification and redistribution without charge subject to retaining the license. |
| Purpose | OBS automatically builds and distributes binary packages from source code in a consistent and reproducible way. | SCons is an open source software construction tool that provides a cross-platform alternative to Make. |
| Security | The administrator guide recommends isolated worker networks and describes running untrusted build code in KVM or XEN virtual machines without network access. | SCons build files execute as Python code, and the project advises treating them with the same trust considerations as other interpreted code. |
| Support | Community help is available through OBS IRC and a mailing list; commercial consulting, training, or SLA support is offered by listed partners, while the project says it has no product or service offering of its own. | The project provides mailing lists, a Discord server and an IRC channel for community contact. |
Plans
In their own words
Open Build Service
Open Build Service (OBS) builds and distributes binary packages from source code in a consistent, reproducible way. Each package is built in a fresh jailed environment; when a build succeeds, OBS rebuilds packages that depend on it. The service can release packages, updates, add-ons, appliances, and complete distributions for different operating systems and hardware architectures. Documented package formats include RPM, DEB, and Arch, with recipes in formats such as spec, dsc, KIWI, and mkosi. Teams can use access controls, branches, merge requests, and submission reviews to coordinate work. GitHub.com and GitLab.com integrations are supported, as are self-hosted GitHub, GitLab, and Gitea instances when network connectivity works. The API gives clients and external services access to OBS resources, while the osc command-line client can edit sources and metadata, start builds, and gather results. OBS is GPL-licensed free software, available on a reference server for open-source developers or for installation on users’ own hardware or in a data center. The listed plan is free.
SCons
SCons is an open source software construction tool and cross-platform alternative to Make, with builds configured through Python scripts. It analyzes dependencies automatically for C, C++ and Fortran, and users can extend that analysis with their own scanners. Built-in support covers C, C++, D, Java, Fortran, Yacc, Lex, Qt, SWIG, TeX and LaTeX; more tools are available from contributed sources. Builds can run in parallel, detect changes using MD5 signatures and cache built files. SCons can also generate Microsoft Visual Studio project and solution files. It is distributed under the MIT license, which permits use, modification and redistribution without charge if the license is retained. The project recommends installing the Python wheel from PyPI with pip, and offers standalone bundles; scons-local can run without installation from a local directory. SCons 4.11.1 requires Python 3.7 or later and normally has no other dependencies. Build files execute as Python code, and SCons is not sandboxed: file operations and processes run with the user's identity. The project says its current User's Guide may have missing or incorrect material.