MODx 0.9.7 is now MODx Revolution 2.0.0

@coroico

Evolution is the renaming and renumbering of 0.9.6 branch so compatibility should not be an issue. Ryan will have an official announcment re timeline for the next release on the 0.9.6 branch soon. The release won’t be out next week as far as I know. I think we are just making an announcment on the changes and some new roadmap milestones.

Quote from: coroico at Jul 18, 2008, 10:30 AM

Just a question, behind the name Evolution, a new version would be welcome. I suppose that it will be the former (and new) 0.9.6 RC2 isn’t it ?
So when do you plan to delivered this new version ? I am finalizing the last tests regarding AjaxSearch 1.8 and I would like that Evolution 1.0 integrate this new version of AS. let me know ?

We haven’t made any final decisions on this yet, but I was thinking of beginning the transition after releasing 0.9.6.2, i.e. the next release would be Evolution 1.0. However, I may be convinced otherwise if everyone else wants to go ahead and do this, even after releasing RC’s for 0.9.6.2...

Buzz world ...

The next release would be Evolution 1.0.

Ok. I understand the necessity to offer a clear view on the different branches between evolution and revolution. But what will be the future content & the road map of this branch (Evolution) ? How promote this branch regarding Revolution ?
IMHO, as soon as the Revolution release will be stable and robust, i am pretty sure that the modx community will not numerous enougth to developp these two branches in parrallel
And as Revolution is an opportunity to definitively jump to PHP 5 and object coding who will be interested in few months by developping for MODx legacy ? Who believe in the future of Evolution ? and how will you sell and promote this idea ?

I don’t really see how this is any different a scenario than if they were still called 096 and 097 from a development-effort standpoint.

Evolution will be maintained and the installer will likely continue to be tweaked. As far as adding any significant new features, the majority of the core team effort will go towards Revolution for obvious reasons. Evolution will remain quite a capable platform though in the interim.

If the community migrates all development effort to Revolution then the community will have spoken and that’s what will be their focus too! Is that a bad thing?

Is that a bad thing?

Obviously not.
But starting now, nobody will investigate time and efforts in the release Evolution.
So I don’t know how we can promote this release except by the fact that is a waiting solution

The key is, IMHO, that the legacy code with be provided a proper home that can support legacy users until we decide that Revolution has been accepted and adopted enough to end-of-life the Evolution community. There’s no reason to abandon the ability for our thriving legacy community to continue fixing bugs, contributing add-ons, etc. for as long as there is interest. I think this will be important for every major release to provide a permanent, branded home that can continue supporting the adopters of each for as long as necessary. It’s not necessarily about interest in maintaining legacy code as much as interest in making those who adopt MODx know they won’t be forced into changes against their will. This is open source, and I don’t want those that still prefer the legacy code, for whatever reason, feel like they have to fork 0.9.6.x because we’re not interested as developers anymore. If no one shows the interest, then so be it; it’s easy enough to get rid of it.

But starting now, nobody will investigate time and efforts in the release Evolution.

We are already seeing this with snippets like FDM (and I believe Jot) where the developers are waiting to take them further with Revolution. I don’t think that this is bad but it does seem that 096 will reach a peak and plateau (which again is not bad, just the natural path of evolution..no pun intended).

Now regarding the 096 name...I find it too similar to Revolution, to subtle a difference and can get complicated in conversation. I actually suffer from these exactly same names, my dog uses a med called Evolution but there is another one on the market named Revolution and in conversation this can get to be a real mess. In some languages the R does not have a predominant sound (in Portuguese it is more like an H, so Revolution sounds more like Hevolution which sounds a lot like Evolution..not sure how this is in French).

I can imagine a support call..
Support: Are you using Revolution?
Client: Yes, I am using Evolution.
Support: did you say Evolution or Revolution?
Client: Yes, Revolution.

Now try this in Portuguese or Spanish

We might consider some guidelines on making add-ons work in both 0.9.6 and Revolution, at least for a while. I was able to produce versions of SPForm and EzFAQ that work in either environment without too much trouble. More complex elements might be harder to do this with and I imagine it would be a lot more difficult with plugins.

Quote from: dev_cw at Jul 18, 2008, 05:53 PM

But starting now, nobody will investigate time and efforts in the release Evolution.

We are already seeing this with snippets like FDM (and I believe Jot) where the developers are waiting to take them further with Revolution. I don’t think that this is bad but it does seem that 096 will reach a peak and plateau (which again is not bad, just the natural path of evolution..no pun intended).

I think that’s just an excuse for the lack of activity; I believe there are just very few volunteer developers willing to share work on generic solutions. If this was true, there would already be a swarm of developers creating components and packages for Revolution. This, I can assure you, is not the case. I’ve been trying to get developers to develop for either; but there will always be something else more important than working on software you don’t get paid to create. Our challenge here is to create a thriving ecosystem of adopters, designers, and developers, where folks make money because they can provide support for or design/build custom and/or generic components for people who choose to adopt MODx to drive their web site( s ).

This is why I came to be a part of MODx in the first place; to find a way to thrive independent of large, soul-less software companies or agencies and contribute back to a community that was providing me with a very useful tool to do my job. IMHO, this is a community of like-minded designers and developers using something and giving back what they can in exchange; if the community continues to grow and adoption increases, then we can expect an increase in these things, and that’s what the steps we are taking are intended to be a catalyst for.

Quote from: dev_cw at Jul 18, 2008, 05:53 PM

Now regarding the 096 name...I find it too similar to Revolution, to subtle a difference and can get complicated in conversation. I actually suffer from these exactly same names, my dog uses a med called Evolution but there is another one on the market named Revolution and in conversation this can get to be a real mess. In some languages the R does not have a predominant sound (in Portuguese it is more like an H, so Revolution sounds more like Hevolution which sounds a lot like Evolution..not sure how this is in French).

I can imagine a support call..
Support: Are you using Revolution?
Client: Yes, I am using Evolution.
Support: did you say Evolution or Revolution?
Client: Yes, Revolution.

Now try this in Portuguese or Spanish

I think the version numbers will still be used for identifying what someone is using in a support call. Evolution and Revolution are distinguishing brands only; like public code names. I like them because they are simple, easy to remember, and accurately describe each branch concisely. When you call Apple support I doubt you just say, "hey, I’m on Leopard and need to know how to do blah blah blah..." You would say, "I’m running OS X 10.5.4..."

And can’t the people translate Evolution and Revolution to words that mean the same in their own native language (and thus can be easily distinguished)?

Quote from: dev_cw at Jul 18, 2008, 05:53 PM

We are already seeing this with snippets like FDM (and I believe Jot) where the developers are waiting to take them further with Revolution.

Just a quick note, in the case of FDM : Soda is not waiting he has just clearly stated that he will not support legacy FDM anymore since he is working on xFDM which will use xPDO. Not clear yet if xFDM will be Revolution only or Evolution + Revolution but it will require xPDO. In any case xFDM snippet is under active development and Soda is one of the few coders which has dived into xPDO fully.

Quote from: OpenGeek at Jul 19, 2008, 01:12 PM

Our challenge here is to create a thriving ecosystem of adopters, designers, and developers, where folks make money because they can provide support for or design/build custom and/or generic components for people who choose to adopt MODx to drive their web site( s ).

And with people like Jay (smashingred) on board we will definitely boost our communication / marketing effort, hopefully we’ll be able to recruit new assets to our marketing team and expand firepower to attract new contributors and make this a reality. It’s a great time of exciting challenges and definitely a turning point for the project !