I have done my venting and I have moved on so I hate to get involved in this.

And, SilverSufer, I am not siding with Will because I am not happy with this merger.

I do not think we have to pay DNN corp. 2500 to get AS features.

We are going to get everything for free.

The only thing we won't get is MailConnector from ActiveForums.

I purchased 3 Enterprise licenses just for MailConnector.  I am not happy that I will lose those features if I decide to upgrade my forum module.

Also, if I remember it correctly, AF and AS will still be in the module form. So we can still keep upgrading DNN without upgrading AS or AF. And, if DNN upgrade breaks AS/AF and MC, Will said he will release a patch. I think that is fair enough (even though the merger is not fair for enterprise customers)

I think DNN should let Enterprise customer keep MailConnector and allow them to upgrade AF when they want. For new people who want Forums on their website they should get the module without MC in it.

Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

If I am wrong, I am going to start venting again.

Forums will remain as module.

Active Social will be part module and part core integration. Things like Login, Registration, Profile and Journal do not make sense to remain as modules. They will become part of the core. However, you will still be able to continue using the older module versions if you like and those versions will continue to receive support and updates as needed until the last subscription license expires. That will still be over a year from now since we are still selling the products. So yes, if something breaks because of a DNN upgrade then a patch will be released.

As far as the Mail Connector goes...since the new forum module will be open source and there really isn't much to the overall functionality, I wouldn't be surprised if someone decided to write a new mail connector.

Will, are you going on record to state that a person who pays for the PE version in the future will have no additional Active Social features that someone has who has the CE version has? I don't just mean today, I mean anytime in the future?

I say this because you stated that you have not created the spec for the 2.0 version yet, so how are you able to state this when you have not even created the spec for the 2.0 version yet?

This has been my initial thought (and hope) from the beginning. However, I also hoped that somewhere down the road it would remain a part of the forums after all .

I am sure that in the long run we all will benefit from the merger but this will not be (IMHO) before version 6.1/6.2 in which AS will be tightly integrated in the core and the initial bugs have been solved (no offense, please). As for the registration I agree with Will that this shouldn't have been a separate process in the first place (correct me if I am wrong Will) and I know that some users here, just like Frozen, are using Dynamic Registration (DR). I recently purchased their products to enable my users to log in using their fantastic Facebook connector. The tighter integration of AS will eventually provide leverage to users of DR.

However, I do understand the uncertainty about what is going to happen in the short term and that AS/AF users are using methods to get this out in the open.

What I find incredible is Will's assertion that people who buy software only buy it based on what it can do today. While this might be true for people who buy applications like FTP programs, or word processing packages, it's not true for people who build websites.

When you create a community-based site that thousands of people will use it makes a huge difference what package you use. It's very difficult to change things once you get started and people are used to how it works, and you have all this data being stored.

Changing your word processing package only affects you, changing your site's social software affects thousands. Therefore you have to be thinking 2 years ahead when you choose a package, you can't simply see what the software does today.

I have a hard time believing Will does not know this himself....

I would just like to go on record and say that Active Social / Active Forums is the best $399 I have ever spent on any module for DNN.  When I purchased, AS was version 1.2 and I made it up 1.9.2 with my support agreement.  I got so many changes and enhancements during that time (it was totally worth my money)...I don't know how anyone could be complaining about this.  What other products are out there that have the functionality of AS/AF for the price?  On top of that, it's about to be free...  I couldn't be happier.  Anyway, just a little tired of reading the same complaints over and over again when Will has clearly stated the direction of the product.  Can't we all just get along?

I'm curious, with the support agreement and licensing, will those customers who's support terms run out also be entitled to any future patch releases? I ask this because (don't quote me) I think my license for updates will run out this November, after DNN 6.x is scheduled to be released. It really doesn't make sense for me to renew my license, but I would still want access to any critical AS/AF updates if I'm to upgrade to 6.x.

Sorry to have brought this up, and not trying to get a flame war going, just want some clarification.

Posted By Jeff Blanks on 16 May 2011 09:55 PM

you will still be able to continue using the older module versions if you like and those versions will continue to receive support and updates as needed until the last subscription license expires.

I'm curious, with the support agreement and licensing, will those customers who's support terms run out also be entitled to any future patch releases? I ask this because (don't quote me) I think my license for updates will run out this November, after DNN 6.x is scheduled to be released. It really doesn't make sense for me to renew my license, but I would still want access to any critical AS/AF updates if I'm to upgrade to 6.x.

Sorry to have brought this up, and not trying to get a flame war going, just want some clarification.

I think everybody will get critical updates. 

I am probably going to renew my license because in one of his blog post Will stated the following:

The actual lpost can be found over here: http://www.activemodules.com/blogs/...otnetnuke/

It is the upgrade path that is compelling to me combined with the fact that AS will be included in 6.1 later this year. A renewal is just a way to gain access to guaranteed more smoothly upgrade process.