[Obm] Current status

[Pierre Baudracco]

Hello list,

here is a point of current situation and the next release as many have asked 
(directly again...).

We will soon publish next release (0.8) in the week starting mars 15.

As with each point release we have made some architectural changes:
- access rights are now finer grained with a module level
- you can select what is displayed (tab=section and menu=modules) in the 
specific site config file
- you can have your specific lang vars superceeding (and so keeping) the 
generics obm ones.
- global postgres handling (so better portability in queries..)

there are many bugfixes and addition as the publication module with the contact 
subscription management.

here is the current (that will still be updated) changelog for this version

---------
<li> Security : password are now stored in a crypted form + conversion script
<li> Calendar select now allow to jump on current year, month, week
<li> Calendar date format fixes
<li> It lang files updates
<li> OBM_DISPLAY and CSV export updates to allow calculated fields in CSV
<li> Company links to Contract added in Company links panel
<li> Project allocation updates now update missing time if needed
<li> Project members cleaned and upgrade php script written
<li> Todo updates : admin sort info move to settings, list sorting now works
<li> When checking an entity to delete, limit to 10 the references displayed
<li> New module : publication with contact subscription management
<li> New Contact infos : category 1 and 2 multivalued with admin management
<li> New Company info : category with hierarchical organization
<li> UI to allow query construction for dynamic lists
<li> Specific config now allow to select which tab and modules are shown
<li> Specific config : can use specific lang vars keeping obm compatibility
<li> BUG#308 : All contact search criteria now kept when changing page
<li> BUG#307 : Searches are now case incensitive on Postgres too
<li> BUG#305 : Top panel display fixed when debug display activated
<li> BUG#303 : CSV export now handles calculated fields
<li> BUG#302 : Contact : minor ui fix
<li> BUG#300 : List : Limit resource usage by user manual queries
<li> BUG#299 : New access right and profile model (with module granularity)
<li> BUG#298 : Contact : sorting by company no more lose the marketing filter
<li> BUG#296 : Fatal error on Todo detail view
<li> BUG#295 : List detail can now be accessed even with a wrong query
<li> BUG#294 : Company name search now two passes : exact then phonetic and aka
<li> BUG#292 : Calendar : Fix in updating a repetitive event (old db problem)
<li> BUG#291 : TaskType management in refential, correctly checked on deletion
<li> BUG#259 : Document : a directory can now be removed (only if empty)
<li> BUG#213 : Logout after the session expires now allow direct login
<li> BUG#178 : system Group used in Company, Contract, Deal, Contract, Incident
--------

Now an idea about the global roadmap.

0.8 has emphasized on ease on upgrade capabilities to new obm version while 
keeping the site specific configuration (lang, what is displayed,...)
We will continue on this way by implementing hook functions to some code points 
to allow having some specic fields and processing in a specific site while 
retaining OBM generic compatibility.

A main goal within 0.8.x branch will be to expand workgroup capabilities with 
new modules (forum, resource management and planning, some workflow, light 
content managment with frontpage articles,...).

We will had an import module to allow data transfert to OBM.

On a tech side, we will try to make some tarballs to allow users to follow more 
precisely development.

---------

On a global product view, OBM is now used in many sites (is downloaded more than 
1000 a monce) and we now have references in some big companies (few of them 
allow us to communicate about their use of the product) with many interested 
customers.
We even have found that some companies use and have traduct the product in other 
languages without letting us know (especially brazilian sites)

So we will add a pro web site designed towards customers and more focused on 
functionnalities, product presentation and services we offer around obm.

So for some that asked us, OBM is and will remain a GPL product.
We may in the future adopt a dual licencing scheme (ala mysql) but the GPL 
version will stay.

We are starting a big project around OBM consisting of plug-ins to classic 
email-client to allow synchronization with the OBM calendar.
2 first email clients targeted are Evolution and Outlook... Yes Outlook.
The Outlook pluggin needs a great deal of work as it is written in the window 
platform with MS MAPI joy. This plugin should not be Free software.

Bye

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pierre Baudracco - pierre.baudracco@aliacom.fr
ALIACOM - www.aliacom.fr - Toulouse : 05 62 19 24 91 - Paris : 01 48 25 53 13