TurnKey 13.0 release candidate 3 - a community effort!

Before getting to the release, let's recap on how we got here:

In June the TurnKey 12.1 64-bit maintenance release was announced, built with the (soon to be released) TKLDev build appliance.

That same month TurnKey moved to GitHub, providing us with a unified tracker for bugs, issues and feature requests, a wiki to track appliance candidates and whiteboards, and of course a central code repository - used to facilitate collaboration via forks and pull requests.

Fast forward to July, TKLDev (Turnkey's appliance development and build system in a box) 12.1 was released together with all the appliance source code on GitHub.

Then in August the build chain was upgraded to TurnKey 13 based on Debian Wheezy, and it was announced that TurnKey 13.0 was ready for community development.

It's now September, and I'm proud to announce we've pushed out TurnKey 13.0rc3, the first community developed TurnKey release. All development was done out in the open using GitHub and TKLDev. Major props go out to the awesome folks who helped shape this release, including but not limited to: Jeremy Davis, Eric Young, Jenny Qian, John Carver and Philip Daniels.

Download

The 13.0rc3 64bit ISO's are available for download from sourceforge or via our download mirror network.

Notable changes

• TKLBAM 1.3 has been released which includes support for PostgreSQL, MySQL views and triggers, improved backup and restore functionality, and loads of bug fixes.
• Two brand new appliance additions (more in the pipeline...):
  • OpenVPN: a full-featured open source SSL VPN solution that accommodates a wide range of configurations, including remote access, site-to-site VPNs, Wi-Fi security, and more. OpenVPN offers a cost-effective, lightweight alternative to other VPN technologies that is well-targeted for the SME and enterprise markets.
  • Tendency: a content management system built specifically for NPOs (Non Profit Organizations). Tendenci core features include membership management, online events calendar and event registration, donations form, online business directories, and rich media photo galleries and video gallery modules.
• OwnCloud upgraded and updated to use upstream Debian package instead of source code, providing easy upgrade path.
• Bugzilla and Mahara were rewritten to use upstream source code instead of Debian packages as they are no longer available.
• Several appliances are being dropped from the library:
  • Appflower: project seems to have discontinued.
  • Drupal6: retired, drupal7 is its successor.
  • Deki: no upstream support for wheezy.
  • vTiger: does not support php 5.4.
  • OSQA: development ceased - requires legacy django.
  • Sencha: senchacmd installation fails on 64bit.
• Loads of bugfixes.

Next up

1. Testing and bugfixing of the RC's. Many hands make light work as the saying goes, so we encourage everyone interested in making Linux and open source software easier to use to get involved.
2. Importing and building TKLDev community projects. If you've developed a new appliance and want it included in the final 13.0 release, let us know. If you've been wanting to put on your developer hat and get your hands dirty, now is the time.
3. Upgrading and testing build infrastructure for optimized builds.
4. Official 13.0 release, yeah baby!

We'll also be reviewing all existing and future pull requests, we encourage anyone interested in leaving their mark on TurnKey to step in and collaborate with us.