Forum OpenACS Q&A: OpenACS 4.x launched for good

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Posted by Ben Adida on
Alright. First things first. I would like to apologize for the delay in getting going with OpenACS 4.x. There were a number of issues that led to this delay, including a delay of PostgreSQL 7.1, a busy schedule for both Don and myself, but the recent delay has been entirely my fault, and for that I apologize. I am working hard to change that in the next few days.

OpenACS 4.x porting is officially (and effectively) launched! Don is currently working on driver improvements for bind variables. I am working on the query dispatcher. Together, we have put up some guidelines. You can find this information progressively appear on the new OpenACS 4.x section of the site which is at https://openacs.org/doc.

The important thing is this: the main goal of OpenACS 4.x is to create, like ACS 4.x, a more modular system where there are significantly less bottlenecks in expanding functionality. At the end of the day, we want to see people porting old packages, creating new packages without ever having to check in with the core porting group. However, to get there, we need to structure a few things: the port of some initial critical pieces has to be done in a well-organized way so that the platform itself can be solid. Think of OpenACS 4.x core as the operating system for your web applications: you want the operating system to be solid and written by the most experienced people, so that everyone else is then free to write the cool, innovative apps on top of it.

So, we will move this along as quickly as possible, but we will require everyone's patience a little bit more over the next few weeks as we get the first few building blocks in place. I guarantee that this will be a very transparent process, so that all progress is easily visible and can be commented on.

If you want to participate in this discussion, head over to the OpenACS 4.x discusion forum, where I will immediately begin a handful of threads related to schedule, query dispatching, and driver bind variables.