The DNN journey has been a great learning experience for many of us. And for that alone I'm eternally grateful. Sustainable open source is incredibly hard as you point out. And what we began with the community with "DNN Connect" is beginning to take shape as we all search for this "vendor dominated community"-future that you allude to. It is thrilling to see the community re-engage and to witness this emerge.
My first impression is that you are indeed pointing to the right direction. I myself was very much into-DNN by 2007/2008 and then, a few years later... when I saw that the community was being sort-of disregarded, I drifted away, focusing on other things. It was mainly because of the commercial overtake that -as I saw it- was taking place, and the consequences of that, the urge to deliver releases that were not as strong tested as they should have been, the disappearance of several long-lived and high participating members... It was discouraging. It is with great pleasure that I read your words in this post. There have been members who were very critic along the path, and now I would like them to come and leave an opinion. I applaud your move and wish you godspeed.
I've been yelling this stuff at everyone for years... the DNN open source opportunity is everyone's opportunity to build what DNN Corp built; a company supporting DNN targeting a certain need (I laud the guys at Arrow for creating a proprietary ecommerce solution (HotCakes) and supporting it). Every time I hear DNN described as a CMS I wince... because it is a web application framework (I was using DNN for years as such before I moved away from program development (intranets) to focus on the marketing potential inherent within public facing DNN). DNN Corp IS just another DNN vendor, but it had a massive marketing advantage (which created angst within the hard-working community), and head-hunted within the community... but the fact they are the stewards of the open source project is still blurring the lines (don't get me wrong, I think the community needs leadership) in that there cannot be one organization with two visions... that's called double-vision. ack! My hope is that the quality of the open source application framework will continue to improve allowing hundreds/thousands of people the opportunity to see DNN as a vehicle by which they can improve the quality of their lives. (Among those people will be leaders who will hopefully be given the opportunity to improve the core platform).
Shaun Walker has 25+ years professional experience in architecting and implementing enterprise software solutions for private and public organizations. Shaun is the original creator of Oqtane and DotNetNuke, web application frameworks which have cultivated the largest and most successful Open Source community projects native to the Microsoft platform. He was one of the original founders of DNN Corp, a commercial software company providing products, services, and technical support for DotNetNuke, which raised 3 rounds of venture capital from top tier Silicon Valley investors. Based on his significant community contributions he has been recognized as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) as well as an ASPInsider for over 10 consecutive years. He was recognized by Business In Vancouver as a leading entrepreneur in their Forty Under 40 business awards, was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Outercurve Foundation, and is currently the Chair of the Project Committee for Microsoft's .NET Foundation. Shaun is currently a Technical Director and Enterprise Guildmaster at Cognizant Softvision.