[TYPO3-core] Proposal for the upcoming Roadmap and LTS

[Mario Rimann]

Hi

Am 07.11.12 23:51, schrieb Jigal van Hemert:
> That means that you have a pretty specific type of clients. Other
> agencies find themselves in the situation that clients just want a new
> website. They really don't mind which system is used as long as it meets
> the requirements.

But those that don't care which system and/or which version is used are
often those that don't want to be bugged with something like "hey we
need to upgrade your installation as there are no security updates
anymore". From what I see in our day-to-day business, this kind of
customer is the one that want's a website - and not hear anything from
us as long as the website still runs. So a version that has a long
maintenance period wins in that situation.

>> The thing is that all our extensions will have to support different
>> versions as all clients run different versions as there is no clear
>> upgrade cycle with these short term releases. I agree that an upgrade
>> from 4.5 to 6.2 will be more complex than from a 6.1 version. But we can
>> do this once and upgrade it everywhere. We're not talking about ONE
>> installations, we're talking about DOZENS of installations with the same
>> version and the same extensions!
> 
> You actually have dozens of different websites with exactly the same set
> of extensions? That is a very specific type of customers!

I can confirm this from what we have to maintain from our customer base:
- Some bigger websites which are pretty individual
- Some very small websites whit just about the core and 1-4 extensions
- And a *big* bunch of medium sized websites that are pretty similar. Of
course they are not identical - but pretty similar regarding their
setup, the set of installed extensions and so on.

I guess these three sizes can apply to the customer sizes, too: We have
some very small customers, and some big names - and in between we have a
big number of medium sized customers. And following this discussion, I
guess some core-devs are working at agencies that have a different set
of customers (e.g. more big names and less medium to small customers)
which of course makes a difference regarding the needs of the agency.

> And it's not a matter of not wanting to do something. On one side the
> market wants us the keep up with developments in the internet world. New
> websites made with TYPO3 must be able to support new technologies,
> support new browsers, etc. on the other side there are existing websites
> that want to use the same version for as long as possible. There is
> currently no manpower to do both.

I think there's also a need from customers to have a stable (bugfixes to
be compatible with newer browsers) CMS that is safe (gets security
updates) but does not get new features all the time (reduce the
side-effects of having to upgrade too often).

> If we need to choose, then I'd say we have to choose for new
> development. Standing still is going backwards in this fast moving world.
> So, if there is a demand for LTS the people/companies who want that
> should come up with a solution. That can of course be discussed within
> the Association.

+1 for "we need to find a solution"

But before just deciding or "doing" the one or the other thing, we
should discuss the needs of the differnt involved parties. And that's
what we're doing here.

After that discussion, we should have a base to know what's really
wanted, based on the inputs from differnt kinds of parties involved. And
with this base we can then see how we can organize to make as many
parties happy as possible - and what's needed to achieve this (be it
manpower, be it funding, be it XYZ).

Cheers,
Mario