Some basic support for all MAIN Joomla versions should be maintained and NOT discontinued in 18 Mo.
As a owner of many joomla sites its really tough and expensive job to migrate joomla all the time new version is out. As with new release scheme where long supported joomla versions will be supported for 18 months I say its not enough. I think all main releases like 1.0, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 ....should be maintained at least on some very basic level forever... like security patches if some new threat discovered....Basicly all I do on my sites is migrating and updating..once I successfully migrate all my sites, new version is out and I can begin that process from scratch mainly because after support ends joomla team not release any security patches and sites will be in serious danger...that why I think that really support for all MAIN versions should be not totally stopped but there should continue some kind of elementar ongoing support at least with security patches..
david
shared this idea
5 comments
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david
commented
Yes everything get outdated in some time, but there have to be found an solution to this I believe. The only who is happy from this situation now are 3rd party developers of commercial applications as they provide time based subscriptions and people are forced to pay and pay ...
I undrestand that pay for joomla will be against initial idea and philosophy and this prolly domnt get throught community voice. BUT what I think provide after official support ends ability for users actually subscribe for reasonably priced paid subscription after official support ends is not going over any idea of free software and all people will be happy, joomla developers as they can have some money from it and joomla users who want stick with some version for longer period of time and want to be safe that there still some urgent security patches and bugfixes will be released.
Of course u can say some 3rd party dev can take over this but I still think this should be done under joomla team....
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AdminRouven Weßling
(Admin, Joomla!)
commented
Well in two or three years Joomla 1.5 will be as outdated as Joomla 1.0. It's just not feasible to support software forever. To support Joomla 1.5 we still have to keep considering PHP4 with every support release, sty that we can't do infinitely. You have to stop eventually and it's nice if you have some estimates to plan with.
Migrations should get less painful in the future. 1.6->1.7 was very smooth already, however the real test will be 3.0 next summer. However hacking core files will always cause updating to be a pain. Don't do this.
Charging for Joomla goes against the core principles of the project. I'm certain this is never gonna happen. Also it's kinda hard to control when the license you get grants you the right to unlimited redistribution.
What you can do is band together with other developers and fix security issues yourself. I'm sure the PLT would be willing to listen to if you proposed a solution to this dilemma. Just don't expect anyone from the current JSST to work on the code (you can ask tough). You should expect to do it yourself.
Last but not least I'd like to repeat that Joomla isn'T my project, and it's certainly not my extension directory. Joomla is our project, I'm merely a contributor.
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david
commented
i agree joomla 1.0 is really too much but maybe from 1.5 upwards ....
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david
commented
Hi rouven,
Well if its 18 or 21 months is not big difference in my point of view
As I state in my idea, I dont mean some heavy support. I mean only critical bugs or newly discovered hazardous security holes to be released patch for. Most of people who run joomla sites using various 3rd party mods which render migration process to be really slow and not easy.. Those of us who run many joomla sites have to pay big money to migrate it.You pointed out right question..WHo gonna pay for it.. I think if u put some minimal price for joomla like 5 USD u gotta have millions to pay your expenses and time. Also inclusion in your extension directory even if you set minimal price can bring nice income I think to cover time and expenses. I know we all loves joomla is free open source but to be honest ... if I pay what I pay for neverending migrating process I will be more than happy pay 5 usd for every my joomla site and know support for my version will be stipped at all after certain time and even no any security patches will be released...I think most of people who run like 20 or more sites based on joomla will agree with me as all we dop is constant migrations and If I countb how much that cost me, my real income from my sites is nerar to zero.
Or what you can do is simle. After official free support ends, people can subscribe for paid subscription and any other security patches and critical bugfixes will be downloadablemonly for paid subscribers - and thats what pays it ..
ANyway take it easy ..Its just my idea and my point of view as really short spanlife of joomla versions and stopped support after certain time drives me (and Im sure not only me) really mad...
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AdminRouven Weßling
(Admin, Joomla!)
commented
First of all it's 21 months. (3 months after the next LTS release)
Second, support forever? Who's supposed to do that? Would you pay for it? I certainly wouldn't have kept PHP 4 around just so I can provide updates for Joomla 1.0. Remember everyone working on Joomla is a volunteer. Including those fixing the security issues.
Third, extension developers rely on some kind of guidance what versions to support. Almost no developer will be able to support more than 2 or 3 Joomla versions with it's extensions.
