Why so big luck of information about VM 1.5 ?

[balai]

Hi

The joomla 1.6 will be hopefully released soon.
But we still know nothing about VM 1.5 release.

We developers have to make some decissions these days concerning any new extensions for VM we have to develop.

The questions we have to answer are:
1) Should i develop an extension for VM 1.1x or should i wait for 1.5?
2) If i do it for VM 1.5 when will be realeased?
3) If i develop it for 1.1 may not have future?
4) If the release day is far away may i have a big loss of income?

I think that all these insecurities may be bad for VM and maybe guide people away from VM.

Why not to be a page with info about VM 1.5 ? Woudn't be beneficial for all?

[balai]

Nobody is interested on that?

[AH]

You need to make your own commercial decision.  I doubt anyone would want to commit to a release date for 1.5

[IntraX]

The questions we have to answer are:
1) Should i develop an extension for VM 1.1x or should i wait for 1.5?

As a dev you know, that for years to come after a new release like this, people will still use VM 1.1.x. The reason is clear, not many use the cart out of the box and make no changes or add hacks, so those companys will work with the release they orginally started. And today still a lot of VM 1.0 are on the internet and work well, even with added functions come as good as the newer one. And same will apply here, we will not change to 1.5 as soon it is out, as we added too much to it for that we would do it again right away with a new version, that probably wont give all the fuctions we now installed in the current version. We will also wait for some time after the stable release, so that this version will be more stable again as the 1. stable one that comes out. From this alone, you should always focus on providing 2 versions when needed. 1 for the "old" one and one for the new one, while the old one, when tweaked and hacked isnt really old;)

This from a "commercial user perspective" about those questions. We would not like to see new extensions only developed for a the newest version and you would not like that we could not buy those for our old version, as we wouldnt changee our whole shop just for getting your new extensions, that would be a great hassle and not worth the efforts, you know:=)

2) If i do it for VM 1.5 when will be released?
I am not a coder, but I would say, to update an extension for a coder will not be a problem, as when you know about MVC for Joomla, you can surely apply this to the new VM too.

3) If i develop it for 1.1 may not have future?
See question 1

4) If the release day is far away may i have a big loss of income? I think that all these insecurities may be bad for VM and maybe guide people away from VM.

How should this happen? People are commercial users and know what OpenSource means, so they will not be angry especially when they know that their 1.1.5 will still work, and why should it not? I would suggest not to build 100% on the new version, as first you rather make a big loss of income when you suddenly build any new extension as soon when the new version is out as only for the new version, it is as mentioned, lots of existing users will not change to the new version for at least 2 years mostly, this was also the case for Joomla 1.0.. When you suddenly only develop for 1.5 as soon the new version is out, you will definitely have a big loss of income, as for some time, most people will still use 1.1.x:)

But honestly, you cant really have a big loss of income with developing extensions also for the new one, because as soon it comes out you have them handy already and can sell them. But like I said, to develop for both versions for at least 2 years will make you more money as simply switching to the new version or not already porting existing extensions to the new version now. But I would focus on the "old one", as there more customers for the old one as you may think. WE SIMPLY MISS SO MUCH IN EXTENSIONS FOR VM!!!!:) And we are glad that there are always new ones available in the forum here or commercially from outside devs for cool prices, this is what makes the icing on the VM cake, it must all not be expensive to have a top notch shop!

Why not to be a page with info about VM 1.5 ? Woudn't be beneficial for all?

There is one, on the VM Homepage, or do you mean a Forum just for the new one?

[DRACULINOS]

Your questions are so reasonable but for now there is none roadtrip!
There was but unfortunatelly we get into the wrong path and something must happen to find again the light to get over the tunnel ....
Of course always you can check the http://dev.virtuemart.net/redmine/versions/show/2

[IntraX]

That may be right, but I think VM is still good where it is right now. As you also see, there are more and more extensions for this current version coming out, it is being developed like it will be the VM forever. This is positive, as people know they have a stable and solid basis with the current VM and also spend money for it. When a new version is out, it will indeed make a difference but I think VMs status quo is in good standing, if it now takes a year more for a new version to come out it will not make a difference.

[balai]

Guys thank you. You really helped me make some decision.

I also think that open source project's power is the public interest and have to be open also from communication aspect.
This will be only beneficial for the project.

[Milbo]

Didnt noticed the beta release? Maybe you should take a look on that first.

It just depends on the extension you wanna make. How much time you want to put in.

[Milbo]

and btw I wont develop for vm1.1 because it is just a pain in the ass. The reason for this is that vm1.1 was developed while OOP for php did not exist. So it is flow orientated written. You can solve a lot stuff maybe 5 times faster with vm1.5 than with vm1.1.

[Erik P]

I am rather disappointed that the VM team did not opt for a gradual refactoring strategy, but embarked on a complete rewrite instead. At the moment the largest amount of core team resources is working on something the community is not going to be able to benefit from for months or even years to come ... We seem to need a project manager like Linus Torvalds for VM :-)

[MikeUK]

As a developer (I believe you are), you must know it is not so simple. Also, if you have the skills, you can offer to help to make the project move faster.

As with all similar projects, the team and developers are working in their free time. It is not possible to create a completely new version and also gradually improve the previous one, unless many people are willing to give up their time to help develop it. There is also lots of bug fixing that can be done. So perhaps consider how you might be able to help, rather than showing disappointed. This is a community project, not a commercial one.