TYPO3 CMS 6.2 LTS - Kick-Off

TYPO3's next LTS version will be released in October, 2013 and will be supported for three years thereafter (until October, 2016). It will be a perfect replacement for the 4.5 LTS release, which will expire in October, 2014. The umbrella goals for the 6.2 LTS (Long Term Support) TYPO3 release are:

• Smooth Migration
• User Happiness
• Robust, Stable and Secure Foundation
• Modern Technologies / Interoperability

Being an LTS means special consideration during the development. It means to us that we don't want to add any experimental feature which could be an obstacle for the further development of TYPO3 CMS after 6.2. On the other hand we want to make sure the base is future proof because we will have to "carry it on" for at least three years to come. We have gained some experience with solving this situation during the development of the last LTS (4.5) - which was and still is a huge success - and are able to transpose this knowledge to the development of 6.2 LTS. Some realistic details of what we plan to finish to realize these goals:

Smooth Migration (from 4.5 LTS to 6.2 LTS)

We know about the huge 4.5 LTS user-base. Let those be able to migrate to the new modern code-base as easy as possible.

• Identify and solve and/or document all migration issues
• Migration "Checklist" for integrators
• PHP Support: 5.3 (above 5.3.7) and 5.4
• Upgrade Check Extension
  • Install on 4.5 and see what "could break" on Upgrade to 6.2 LTS
• Compatibility Extension
  • Install on 6.2 and provide a layer emulating 4.5 functionality (to allow running legacy Extensions on 6.2)
• Potentially a PHP Code Migration Tool (to ease upgrade of extensions)

User Happiness

We want to work on the product from the users point of view (customer, agency, integrator).
Making their experience fun and consistent should guide our efforts.

• Usability Improvements
  • Design Foundation (TYPO3 Backend Style / Layout Guide)
• Ship Production Environment
  • "Fast" by default
  • Don't annoy users that are not developers (i.e. deprecation log "off" by default)
• Install Tool goodies
  • Configure and Solve problems as much as possible automatically
  • Robust: no Fatal, also works with "broken" Extensions installed

Robust, Stable and Secure Foundation

The groundwork of TYPO3 should be modern, but still realistic and timeless.
Let's finish the "last 20%" for important loose ends.

• File Abstraction Layer
  • Missing features
  • Robust integration
• Media Extension (DAM)
  • Not shipped with Core, but still important as a "DAM" replacement
  • Allow easy migration from "TYPO3 4.5 + DAM" to "TYPO3 6.2 + FAL + Media"
• Extbase Improvements
  • Support read only Workspace and Localization
• Workspaces for IRRE and MM Records
• Salted Passwords enforced

Modern Technologies / Interoperability

We are well aware of what's going on in the PHP world and Web technologies in general.
Keep TYPO3 in sync with modern technologies, but avoid "experiments" in the LTS.

• Package Manager supporting Composer Packages
• JavaScript unification (less Prototype / Scriptaculous, more jQuery)
• UUID for records
• Logging API
• Functional Testing Framework

Groundwork

The development of TYPO3 6.2 LTS already started long before the actual kick off. During the development phase of 6.0 and 6.1 many groundwork was laid paving our way to a rock stable foundation. This work will continue to have the loose ends finished for the release of 6.2 LTS in October, 2013.

One important change to achieve the desired goals has been the restructuring of the Core Team which started during 2012 and was finished by the Team Leader during the Active Contributor Meeting in Nürnberg: The Core Team is more dynamic, vibrant, active and motivated than it has been for a long time. New developers which proved their talents during the last years can now participate more actively in crafting the beloved CMS. Refer to the <link http: typo3.org news article typo3-cms-core-development-roles-and-groups>news article documenting this change.

Kick Off

The Kick-Off for TYPO3 6.2 took place during the Active Contributors meeting in Nürnberg in May, 2013. The tasks and main areas of work for the 6.2 release were identified as listed above. To organize the required work, we introduced initiatives and defined the groups / persons responsible for each individual area.

This allows all contributors to know where to lay the focus of development in the next months and helps new potential contributors to know whom to contact about an area of interest. The Release Manager will keep the strings together by having an overview of what is happening throughout the initiatives and also interacting with further teams (Design, Usability, Documentation, Marketing, Server, Security).

Release Manager

Ernesto Baschny was nominated and elected amongst the Active Contributors to take over the job of Release Manager for 6.2 LTS. He has been working on the TYPO3 CMS Core for the past nine years and was also the Release Manager of the last (and first) TYPO3 LTS (4.5). He'll try to make good use of his experience of having worked on a LTS before.

Information Channels

Keep yourself informed through the following channels, mainly:

• Get news (and our roadmap) through the
  Forge Project: <link http: forge.typo3.org projects typo3cms-v62>forge.typo3.org/projects/typo3cms-v62
• Discuss through
  Mailing List / Newsgroup: <link http: typo3.teams.core>typo3.teams.core / Forum: <link http: forum.typo3.org index.php f>forum.typo3.org/index.php/f/18/
• Get informed, praise and rant using
  Twitter Hashtag: #TYPO3LTS

Your further wishes

This is an open source project: interests and activity of contributors might shift over time. The Core Team is pretty sure we can achieve the above mentioned goals, but this does not mean that we are not open for further initiatives or projects. The Active Contributors are volunteers working with heart and dedication on projects with whom they identify themselves. Still there is room for sponsorship of other features or initiatives. If you are interested in sponsoring or getting some other project realized, get in touch with the Release Manager Ernesto Baschny (<link>ernesto.baschny@typo3.org).

Let's together make TYPO3 6.2 LTS the best release of TYPO3 CMS ever! Every helping hand is welcome!