subject: 08' Overall Open Source CMS Award Final: DotNetNuke [print this page] 08' Overall Open Source CMS Award Final: DotNetNuke
In January 2002, Microsoft Corporation published adownloadnamed the IBuySpy Portal (IBS), one ofa handful of "Starter Kits" (sample applications) thatprovided full source code under a liberal EULA todemonstratehow to implementspecific functionality on the new ASP.NET 1.0 platform. The kitswere functional,but very simplistic, andwere intended to aid programmers in developing projects of their own.
The IBuySpy Portal's goal was to demonstrate how ASP.NET could be used to construct a dynamic, data-driven portal application. The Microsoft .NET development community quickly embraced the IBS Portal as an essential reference implementation for building their own ASP.NET applications, and a vocal developer community began to emerge.
On December 24th, 2002, Shaun Walker of Perpetual Motion Interactive Systems Inc. released a modified version of the original IBS portal application. The new application was called the IBuySpy Workshop and was released under an open source BSD license to allow for the most freedom in both commercial and non-commercial environments. The release, which was posted as a link on the Microsoft ASP.NET Forums, included a variety of enhancements and innovations over the original IBS code, including the ability to support multiple portals from a single installation, a feature which became very popular in the shared web hosting market.
In the weeks following the IBuySpy Workshop's release, thousands of developers from around the world downloaded the code, provided feedback, andcreated the foundationfor an active andloyal development community.
After a number ofrapid releases, the application was renamed DotNetNuke on February 28, 2003 (a name which was quickly abbreviated to DNN for simplicity). The DotNetNuke name was chosen to reflect the applications roots in the .NET (DOTNET) Framework, coupled with the term "nuke" (due toits industry wideassociation with open source web content management systems).
In September 2006, Shaun Walker formed DotNetNuke Corporation, a new legal entity whose sole focus is the ongoing stewardship and management of the DotNetNuke project. Joining Shaun on the original management team were three long-time DNN community members (Scott Willhite, Joe Brinkman, and Nik Kalyani)who had demonstrated their commitment and value to the project over the previous 3 years.
Today, DotNetNuke continues to operate as the largest, most successful open source project on the Microsoft platform. Passing 500,000 registered users and 5.0 million downloads in late 2007, the projectisgainingrapid adoption across all business sectors, including the mid-market and enterprise. With a dedicated management team,passionate developercommunity, and prosperous ecosystem of vendors providing add-on products and services, the DotNetNuke project continues to grow and create a wealth of opportunities.
