If you’ve been paying attention you know that DNN Corp recently released the DNN archives to the community on GitHub. However, those archives were missing releases and I was one of the first to ask for updates to the new archives. As DNN has been focusing more on empowering the DNN Community, I took this an opportunity to activate and take them up on that offer. The end result is a re-release of the DNN archives on GitHub from DNN 9.x all the way back to the beginning with 1.x.
A few weeks ago George Alatrash posted the blog “DNN Release Archives”. George’s blog was the result of a Jira request Ash Prasad posted on my behalf. Most DNN release packages were still over on CodePlex (now CodePlex Archive) and they were not easily accessible. If you were savvy enough to find the archived project, once you attempt to download, you quickly discover it is an all-or-nothing proposition. Downloading the ~25GB archive ZIP file from CodePlex servers, which seem to be no longer optimized for performance, is incredibly painful.
It was obvious that these files needed to ultimately be on GitHub. I’d seen several people in the Community asking where to find these downloads in various channels online. However, it wasn’t as simple as just moving a file from one location to the other as GitHub and CodePlex Archive have different file naming and path conventions. Bottom line, it would not be a simple process.
If you check the comments on George’s blog and the referenced Jira request, you’ll see where I was one of the first and most passionate about this matter. Probably like you, I want things to be “right” - accessible, and in their expected places. I want everyone to be able to access any specific DNN package (Install, Upgrade, Source, Deploy, etc.) that they need at any given time, without the need to jump through a bunch of hoops.
Leading By Example and Answering The Call
As I was contemplating the “new DNN”, the stated focus on community, and the new DNN CEO’s declarations of the shift in power from DNN Corp driving things to the Community driving things, I realized that this was an opportunity for me to both lead by example and test the waters of the new DNN. In this process I could find out if community members would be welcomed and empowered to make a positive impact.
Instead of asking George, Ash, or the DNN team to fix something I decided to fix it myself.
In hindsight I didn’t realize this would take the better part of 5 full days, but ultimately it was worth it. I learned a lot more about Git Commands, GitHub’s file size and repository limits, and Git Large File Storage (LFS). I feel good about helping move the DNN Community forward by contributing to the greater ecosystem and I realized that in the “new DNN” the CEO’s words are true - the Community is indeed empowered to drive things. This was an important nugget of knowledge that I took away from this experience and it is one that is, in my opinion, VERY IMPORTANT for our community to understand.
DNN Corp is open to community leadership and their commitment to Open Source Software (OSS) is evident. I had a few exchanges with Ash Prasad and before I knew it I had the access I needed to help make this contribution. The only thing keeping me from contributing was a little motivation and a few emails. It was an eye-opening experience for me. We are truly in a new open source world with DNN and we need to acclimate to this new modus operandi.
Get the DNN Archives on GitHub!
So, where do you go if you want to get the DNN archives… to GitHub of course! ;-)
Check out every DNN package since inception:
Won’t You Activate and Participate Too?
In this process I learned that we have come full circle in the DNN world. We are back to the true open source software roots and the community is indeed empowered to act. Do you see areas that can be improved? Do you often think to yourself… “I wish DNN did _______”? Or, “I wish things were communicated this way or that way”? If so, I invite you to have the revelation that many of us are having to activate and participate. There are so many areas to contribute and everyone has something to offer, be it large or small. In this case, it wasn’t something I had to make a pull request (PR) to DNN Platform either! So, you don’t have to be a developer to participate.
In the new DNN, the only thing keeping you from contributing is a little motivation. ;-) Won’t you help make the community better and lead by example too?
After all, we are all in this together! Let’s rock it out #DNNstyle!
This article has kindly been translated into Spanish by Francisco Perez Andres.