History: Message to 1-click installers about Tiki LTS

Hello,

We are very pleased that Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware is offered as a 1-click install as part of your installer/control panel. Tiki has frequent releases and it's very helpful that site admins can enjoy 1-click installs and upgrades.

Tiki's frequent releases permit to take advantage of new possibilities (jQuery, HTML5, etc.) and many site admins enjoy having access to the latest and greatest.

Here is a recap of innovations in last 4 years:

• 2009-05: http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki3 LTS
• 2009-11: http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki4
• 2010-06: http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki5
• 2010-11: http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki6 LTS
• 2011-06: http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki7
• 2011-11: http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki8
• 2012-05: http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki9 LTS

However, as Tiki has been for many years the Free and open-source software Web Application with the most built-in features, there is a huge part of our user base that does not want/need new features, but only bug fixes and security fixes. This is why we have been offering Long Term Support (LTS) versions for some time, and we have recently decided to extend this LTS period.

Please see details here:

• http://info.tiki.org/Version+Lifecycle
• http://tiki.org/FOSS+Web+Application+with+the+most+built-in+features

So, we would like to work with you so that versions supported by the Tiki community are also supported by your install/upgrade script.

Specifically, when Tiki 10.0 will be released next month, the Tiki 9.x series should continue to be supported. So users should have the choice of staying with the 9.x series, which is supported until November 2015.

• Minor upgrades (.x to .y) can happen at any time, typically every few months
• Major upgrades are every 6 months (ex.: 8.x to 9.x)
• Site admin can go from one LTS to another (ex.: 9.x to 12.x) or even skip an LTS (ex.: 9.x to 15.x). During the upgrade, Tiki detects the version and runs the appropriate .sql upgrade scripts.

We feel Tiki's model and well-defined lifecycle offers many benefits for a hosting company. Supporting LTS vs regular paths would be one more superb benefit and add more value for site admins using your installer/control panel.

What are the benefits for a hosting company or 1-click installers to offer Tiki? Please see: http://tiki.org/Hosting+company

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Best regards,