Core feature: is it a Software Catalog or a Service Catalog?

Feature Suggestion

In terms of the Backstage documentation, there’s an entire section of the Core Features labeled as “Software Catalog” inferring that’s a key feature. However, opening that section, everywhere it’s actually described instead as a “Service Catalog”. And within the product itself, it also refers to Services of course.

The reason for this feature request is to help define: Is Backstage’s core feature a “Service Catalog” or a “Software Catalog”?

Inside of the documentation, there are 25 references to “software catalog” and 35 to “service catalog”. I wonder if an ADR would be appropriate here, but in discussing with my team I’m not sure if it’s really one or the other. Service of course drives to support of microservices, though some companies won’t be using such an approach. Software is more generic, and more understood in the industry so I’m leaning that it seems it should be “Software Catalog”.

As I pitch the product with my squad, getting alignment for me would be key.

Based on any discussions, happy to file a change to update it but wanted to drive the alignment.

Possible Implementation

Update to the documentation sidebar nav, as well as some tweaks to the content. Also would involve some minor code changes where, for example on the homepage, it says “Organization Name Service Catalog”.

Context

/mnt/c/github/backstage/docs(master)*$ grep -i -R "software catalog" | wc -l
25
/mnt/c/github/backstage/docs(master)*$ grep -i -R "service catalog" | wc -l
32

Specifically, the sidebar is defined as:

"Core Features": [
      {
        "type": "subcategory",
        "label": "Software Catalog",
        "ids": [
          "features/software-catalog/software-catalog-overview",
          "features/software-catalog/installation",
          "features/software-catalog/configuration",
          "features/software-catalog/system-model",
          "features/software-catalog/descriptor-format",
          "features/software-catalog/references",
          "features/software-catalog/well-known-annotations",
          "features/software-catalog/extending-the-model",
          "features/software-catalog/external-integrations",
          "features/software-catalog/software-catalog-api"
        ]
      },

[jvaleriano]

Hi in the model documentation https://backstage.io/docs/features/software-catalog/descriptor-format#kind-system Backstage has many entities but none of them is Software or Service. As it is today is a Component Catalog. Regards,

[stale[bot]]

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