Announcing CiviCRM Version -0.1.beta0

Published
2017-03-31 22:00
Written by

Firefox is at version 52, Chrome is at 55, where does the number inflation game end?

Let the countdown begin! This April, the CiviCRM core team proudly announces we're going negative! It works for politicians, why not your favorite CRM for the Civic sector?

“When they go high, we'll go low.”

From now on, instead of counting up toward ever-inflated numbers, each CiviCRM release will be lower than the previous version. We'll be counting down just like people did in their calendars before the year 0 AD.

“Negative is the new positive.”

We're sure you'll have lots of questions about this exciting negative development, and the core team is here to answer them:

Q: What inspired this change?
A: We really wanted to lower the bar for people to get involved with CiviCRM, while minimizing the impact of each new version. Downgrading (formerly known as upgrading) is now easier than ever.

Q: How do I downgrade to the new version?
A: The downgrader works automatically. Every time a lower version is released it will put your site into maintenance mode for several hours while database tables are dropped and truncated. Finally it will install the previous version and then backup your data. We apologize in advance if these regular interruptions cause any inconvenience.

Q: What impact will this have on CiviCRM feature development?
A: We expect all this negativity to have a very positive effect on features, especially if you write them yourself, submit a pull-request and find someone to review it for you.

Q: How does this fit into the overall LExIM strategy?
A: It's only fitting that as features are moved to extensions and CiviCRM core gets smaller, the version numbers should reflect the shrinking size of the product. Extension developers take note: you'll need to lower your version requirements to maintain forward compatibility.

Q: Will there be a new look & feel to CiviCRM?
A: Yes, each new downgrade will feature a decreasingly retro look. To accompany this first negative version we're announcing the CiviCRM “LastDitch” theme, built entirely with tables, animated gifs, and blinking letters. It is currently “Under Construction.”

We're tentatively excited for this new direction for the project, and wish you all a very happy April 1st.

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Comments

Help! I tried downgrading my CiviGoat install to this new version of CiviCRM and now my feeding schedules are all messed up. I tried calling John Deere support ; they asked me to open, then close the barn door twice in a row. Alas, this did not work. I then tried StockExchange, but they would not trade until tomorrow morning 4:00 am. What matters most is that all the plus requests are entered properly, as this will otherwise mess up my commits to the coop. Thanks and be well (in support of Larry).

Anonymous (not verified)
2017-04-03 - 05:58

Nice try. The only time I ever failed for a tech note was Google's underground toilet fiber internet service. Never again.

Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement. Onwards and downwards!