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May
12
Posted by:
Scott Willhite
5/12/2009 11:47 AM
Well, it’s true! DotNetNuke 5.1 CE Beta is now available for download!
We’re excited about this beta release. Although what you can find in the Road Map would be enough, it’s simply hard to really capture how much has been done without taking a look at it. And some of those changes are below the surface and create a solid foundation for much more that is to come.
Along with the actual beta software, a number of data testbeds are also being made available. These testbeds are sample sites of previous DotNetNuke versions intended to help facilitate both testing of specific upgrade scenarios and testing in general. We hope you find these helpful and plan to continue to augment these testbeds over time.
Something else that is exciting about this beta release is that it is the first time we have ever made a beta release so broadly available. Some may find that hard to believe or perhaps think that belies some reticence toward being “open”… we’ve had that feedback before. But the truth is simply that we have always tried to shield as many as possible from the potential risks associated with using beta software. As my dad would say, “If I had a nickel for every…” and you know the rest.
Over the years, our practice has led us to a place where, for the most part, a lot of folks assume that our downloads should be suitable for production use. Many “tech folk” reading this will think that sounds crazy… who would put beta software into production? But it is sometimes easy to forget that, despite our developer roots… this open source project is serious real-world software that’s in use all over the planet, in multiple languages, and by many folks ranging from the technology demigod to… oh, say, my mom *grin*.
But we’re starting a trend here, perhaps I should say a “wave”. That is that we’re committed to changing our community culture to “cast a much broader net” for everyone’s benefit. To that end, you’re going to be hearing us repeat some messages over and over again, like:
- This is beta software, not for production use.
- Please ensure that all your data and files are safely backed up before installing beta software.
- Upgrades from one beta build to another, and from beta to release are NOT supported.
- New beta builds will be published every few days.
You get the idea *grin*. And we're also going to be doing things like publishing more and more of our own testing activities, plans, testbeds, etc. as time permits. The public beta is here to stay.
So how can you participate?
- Download the beta packages and give them a go.
- Download the sample testbeds and validate upgrades in your environment.
- Log issues in the public issue tracker.
- Discuss the beta in the public forum.
- Tweet, Facebook, Linked’In, and every other Social media “verb” you can think of to share the opportunity with folks who might help.
The OS Team and our own internal testing resources have been hard at work, but there is so much more to do. You’re the folks who have figured out all kinds of crazy ways to use DotNetNuke that we can hardly imagine, much less document and regression test… so give us a hand! Help us put 5.1 CE Beta through it’s paces so that, together, we can make it the best release that DotNetNuke has ever had. In true Community Fashion ;)
Thank you!
Tags:
26 comment(s) so far...
Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
This is great news. I hope everyone is both wise and thankful for this opportunity.
By Phil Speth on
5/12/2009 2:25 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
It's amazing how the science of anatomy has come so far!
By chrisphm16 on
5/12/2009 2:25 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@chrisphm16 OK, I gotta admit... I borrowed the cool picture from an article on Alzheimers.... what can I say, I forgot *wink*
By Scott Willhite on
5/12/2009 2:32 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
"committed to changing our community culture", good news!
By brian on
5/13/2009 11:18 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Will all those who are on 5.0.1 eventually be able to easily upgrade to 5.1? When 5.0 was released at first it was listed as production ready. Many of us have our production sites on 5.0.1.....even though *now* there's a sign on the web site saying it's not production ready (too late for many of us).
I'm hoping and praying the eventual production upgrade will go smoothly. Any comment from the DNN team on this?
By John on
5/13/2009 11:00 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Scott,
When can we expect 5.1 to go live and will 5.1 PE be made available at the same time?
By Justin Asmussen on
5/13/2009 10:55 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
When will 5.1 become GA Release?
By Harry on
5/13/2009 10:55 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@Justin @Harry -- I think it's safe to say that we expect 5.1 to be in beta for at least a couple of weeks. The realities of beta testing require that we leave sufficient time for enough folks to look at it for it to be useful. Post Beta there is still some packaging and launch tasks to complete, but both Community Edition and Professional Edition should me made available at the same time.
By Scott Willhite on
5/13/2009 10:58 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@John - Absolutely. We will support upgrade from 5.0.1. It is one of the upgrade scenarios represented in the testbeds referenced above.
By Scott Willhite on
5/13/2009 11:02 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Scott if I may answer Johns comment : "I'm hoping and praying the eventual production upgrade will go smoothly. Any comment from the DNN team on this?"
Hey there is no praying about it, if you are testing the betas you can do something about it :). Get involved in testing! :).
By Alex Shirley on
5/15/2009 5:47 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Is the 5.1 architecture quite different from 4.9.x? Is there a clear upgrade path? Also, can you point me to the 5.1 feature set or delta doc on how it differs from 4.9.x?
By Harry on
5/15/2009 5:48 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@Alex - You go, man ;)
By Scott Willhite on
5/15/2009 5:48 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@Harry - The architecture of DNN remains the same, but has been enhanced and extended quite a bit. 5.x introduces a completely unified installation system which now encompases skins, providers, skin objects, language packs, etc. instead of just modules. It also introduces some new provider models around things like permissions, which is a basis for adding a lot new security controls (inculding the moving host / admin functionsto permissions instead of sacred roles), "deny" permissions can now be used as well. 5.1 also includes full auditing on objects, which is a great "architectural" enhancement as well.
I suspect there will be a feature matrix for 4.9 -> 5.1 at some point near release, but there is not a single clear one out there yet. For now, I would suggest a look at the roadmap (support.dotnetnuke.com/project/RoadMap.aspx?PROJID=2) and/ or the change log (support.dotnetnuke.com/project/ChangeLog.aspx?PROJID=2). The change log includes all the 4.9 -> 5.0 issues, so there is a lot to read.
Cheers
By Scott Willhite on
5/15/2009 6:05 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
THANK YOU for implementing a beta program! It conveys well the potential issues with using it - but allows folks to get their hands on emerging technology. (I frankly don't see any alternatives to ensure this gets real-world, broad testing either.) Good Move™!
Will there be an easy way to tell beta from production releases from the version numbers? I don't have a good suggestion for what that scheme would be however.
By Juan de Vashon Isle on
5/16/2009 11:03 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@Jaun ~ Thanks! We're working hard on a lot of things all at once. With respect to telling beta from production... we've done a couple of things in the latest build which should be released soon. First, we've added the build number so that it will be reported on the Host Settings page, I know that is subtle, but only the beta builds will expose this. I'm not sure if they are in this build or not, but we're also looking at some visual cues for the control panel to provide an indication of "beta" status. One of the things we try to do, however, is truly not have anything to "change" between a beta and production build, so we're trying to do these things in a way which is not intrusive to the app. Cheers.
By Juan de Vashon Isle on
5/16/2009 11:07 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Hey Scott,
I was able to install 4.9.x lately, but just starting to explore. Can I just uninstall this and start fresh on 5.1?
Thanks in advance!
By bob on
5/19/2009 9:23 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
cool, i want to test it, happy...
By beta on
5/19/2009 9:22 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Does ver 5.1 architecture support cluster deployment (Load Balancers, multiple servers) out of the box on hosting providers like Rackspace Mosso Cloud computing platform. I have personally seen numerous issues with deploying 4.9.2 on Mosso Cloud.
Deploying a stable DNN install on the cloud will increase the adoption of DNN many fold in the days to come. Hope cloud deployment was part of the 5.1 roadmap. Pls advise.
By Harry on
5/19/2009 9:23 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@bob ~ Please remember that this is a beta, you should not deploy it to a production site. The issue is that there is no upgrade path between beta versions (or to the final release). When 5.1 is promoted to general release you will be able to upgrade easily. Cheers.
By Scott Willhite on
5/19/2009 9:31 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@Harry ~ I don't have personal experience with setting DNN up for the cloud, however I do know of several instances running on Amazon and Azure platforms.
By Scott Willhite on
5/19/2009 9:49 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Scott: Can you provide some info on how to setup DNN on Azure or AMazon
I am happy to share my experience of Mosso with you on a separate thread and highlight the issues.
By Harry on
5/20/2009 10:56 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
@Harry ~ As I indicated, I have not done it personally. However, if you would like to contact me offline I would be happy to chat with you further... I am interested in hearing your story on Mosso. You can reach me at:
scott AT dnncorp.com.
By Scott Willhite on
5/20/2009 10:58 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Nuke is the best of all times ... I have beta tested version. I think it is excellent
By passweb on
5/27/2009 3:36 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Any update on when CE 5.1 will be released for production use?
By Harry on
5/31/2009 12:23 AM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
OK
By TriLD on
8/19/2009 2:21 PM
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Re: 5.1 Community Edition is in Beta!
Thank you I downloaded the DotNetNuke 5.1 CE Beta soon :)
By hwantha on
8/19/2009 2:21 PM
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