Create "farmOS 3.0.0" post #24

posts/2024/farmOS-3.0.0/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+---
+title: farmOS 3.0.0
+date: 2024-01-15
+author: Michael Stenta
+slug: 2024/farmOS-3.0.0
+---
+
+# farmOS v3 and beyond
+
+[farmOS 3.0.0 was released](https://github.com/farmOS/farmOS/releases/tag/3.0.0)
+on January 6th, 2024 (almost exactly a year after
+[2.0.0 was released](../2023/farmOS-2.0.0))!
+
+This may seem like it happened quickly, considering that it took ~4 years to go
+from farmOS v1 to v2. Now that we are using
+[semantic versioning](https://semver.org/), however, these "major" increments
+are much less dramatic and will become more routine over time. That doesn't
+mean we expect farmOS v4 anytime soon, but when we do it will be another small
+step like this one.
+
+Incrementing the major version is an opportunity to make big improvements to
+farmOS that could "break" existing integrations or community modules. As a rule,
+we always try to maintain "backwards compatibility" so that developers who build
+on farmOS can be confident that their code won't break as we make changes in
+farmOS core. This is a good thing for stability, but the natural tradeoff is
+that we are somewhat restricted in the kinds of changes or improvements we can
+make to core APIs and data models. By incrementing the major version, and
+documenting the "breaking" changes, we can signal to developers that they may
+need to make changes to their code to make it compatible with the new major
+version of farmOS.
+
+## Semantic versioning
+
+*Feel free to skip this section if you aren't interested in the technical
+details of version numbers.*
+
+In semantic versioning, the three numbers in each version have a specific
+meaning. The first number is the "major" version, the second is the "minor"
+version, and the third is the "patch" version. So, for example, the last release
+of v2 was 2.2.1. This means: major version 2, minor version 2, patch version 1.
+
+According to [semver.org](https://semver.org):
+
+> Bug fixes not affecting the API increment the patch version, backward
+> compatible API additions/changes increment the minor version, and backward
+> incompatible API changes increment the major version.
+
+So generally speaking, we use **patch** version changes for bug fixes and small
+tweaks, **minor** version changes for adding new features, and **major**
+version changes for bigger things that may require farmOS developers to update
+their code.
+
+## Changes in farmOS v3
+
+Most of the changes in farmOS v3 are developer-facing. So if you are a farmer
+you might not notice much of a difference. If you develop farmOS modules or
+integrations there are a few notable changes to be aware of.
+
+The biggest change (and the main reason we decided to bump the major version of
+farmOS), is that farmOS v3 updated from Drupal 9 to
+[Drupal 10](https://www.drupal.org/project/farm/issues/3330490). This also means
+the underlying PHP [Symfony](https://symfony.com) framework was updated from v4
+to v5. In the grand scheme of things, these are routine dependency updates, and
+don't mean a lot to most farmOS users. But, if you are a farmOS module
+developer, it may mean breaking changes to your code, so semantic versioning
+rules dictate that we need to increment the farmOS major version to communicate
+that.
+
+The Simple OAuth module has been updated to version 6. This includes a few
+breaking changes which may affect API integrations. farmOS includes code to
+handle the transition of its own OAuth clients and scopes, but if you have made
+any additional clients that used special roles they will also need to be
+updated. The biggest changes are that the "Implicit" grant type has been
+removed, and the "Password Credentials" grant type has been moved to an optional
+"Simple OAuth Password Grant" module, which must be enabled in order to use that
+grant type. The default farmOS client that is included with farmOS has also been
+moved to a separate module that is not enabled by default. After the update to
+farmOS 3.x, all access tokens will be invalidated, but refresh tokens will still
+work to get a new access token.
+
+Another notable change is that the farmOS v1->v2 migration code has been removed
+in v3. This means that if you are still running farmOS v1 you will not be able
+to update directly from v1 to v3. You will need to
+["migrate" from v1 to v2](https://farmOS.org/hosting/migration/), and then
+"update" from v2 to v3 following the normal
+[farmOS update guide](https://farmos.org/hosting/update/).
+
+The rest of the changes are relatively small, but if you are a developer of any
+farmOS integrations or modules be sure to read the full release notes to see if
+any changes might affect your code.
+
+[3.0.0-beta1 release notes](https://github.com/farmOS/farmOS/blob/3.x/CHANGELOG.md#300-beta1-2023-11-01)
+
+## A look back on v2
+
+We made a lot of progress in the farmOS v2 release cycle (apart from the big
+[changes between v1 and v2](../2023/farmOS-2.0.0)). It's important to look back
+and acknowledge how far we've come! Here is a quick summary of the notable
+farmer-facing features that were added in farmOS v2:
+
+- Planting, Birth, Movement, and Group Membership quick forms.
+- CSV importers for assets, logs, and taxonomy terms.
+- Asset ownership assignment.
+- Bulk actions for log categorization and assigning asset parents.
+- Lab test quantity type with "Test method" field, and "Tissue" lab test type.
+- Localization module for enabling translations.
+- Lots of small user interface/experience (UI/UX) features and improvements.
+
+And that doesn't include all the developer-facing features and improvements.
+For the full list, refer to the
+[farmOS Changelog](https://github.com/farmOS/farmOS/blob/3.x/CHANGELOG.md).
+
+## Next steps
+
+We have big ambitions for farmOS v3 in 2024! Version 3.1.0 will include a new
+configurable Inventory quick form, big improvements to the log/asset/plan edit
+form UI/UX, and more.
+
+We are also excited to upgrade the farmOS Crop Planning module to v3. A
+prototype module was built for farmOS v1, but we never had the time or resources
+to update it to v2. This is an opportunity for all the of the ideas we've been
+talking about over the years to come to fruition.
+
+Work continues with [OpenTEAM](https://openteam.community/) and
+[PASA](https://pasafarming.org/) on farmOS development to support their
+[USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities](https://www.usda.gov/climate-solutions/climate-smart-commodities)
+projects. I will be attending the PASA Conference in February, and I'm looking
+forward to connecting with folks to brainstorm ways that farmOS can help make
+data collection and management easier.
+
+If you have ideas that would make your life as a farmer or ag researcher easier,
+join the [farmOS Community Forum](https://farmOS.discourse.group) and let us
+know!
+
+## Thanks
+
+We couldn't have done all of this without the generous support and contributions
+of our community!
+
+![farmOS Contributors](https://opencollective.com/farmOS/contributors.svg?width=890&button=false)
+![farmOS Backers](https://opencollective.com/farmOS/backers.svg?width=890&button=false)
+![farmOS Sponsors](https://opencollective.com/farmOS/sponsors.svg?width=890&button=false)
+
+If you would like to help support the continued development of farmOS and its
+community, please consider sponsoring our work:
+[farmOS.org/donate](https://farmos.org/donate/)
+
+Thank you and Happy New Year! 🎉