It strikes me that this isn't necessarily a long-term good for either current AM customers or the community. I think it's good that more social networking components will end up in the core, hopefully with a consistent and integrated UI... we'll have to see how successful that integration actually is.

But it's of some concern that for at least some customers, it represents a dramatic price hike for a useful bit of functionality, effectively putting it out of reach. That creates an opportunity for some other module developer, of course, who could build something like AF and the Mail Connector for less, or alternative social networking modules with support for a similar amount to what Active Modules was charging... but that just leads to more fragmentation, and in the wake of this deal, concern over the next acquisition target that might also upset our plans. And that may be a problem for the entire community.

This is probably a good business deal for Will and it's his IP so there is no sense knocking him for it; business is business. It raises a real concern about the DNN ecosystem for what I suspect are its largest constituents, the smallish and not wildly profitable site owners relying on the Community edition to bootstrap or run a hobby site. There is just no intermediate tier of DNN support or a la carte features available that make sense for those of us in that niche. Module options like those provided by Active Modules helped bridge that gap; but if they are going to be eliminated by deals like this, without any corresponding adjustments to the DNN offerings and pricing model, it makes DNN a lot less attractive compared to other CMS offerings out there now.

1. This forum isn't only for developers. If I had the time, I would have already written my own AS. People ares willing to pay small amounts to keep a good product. DotNetNuke doesn't understand that. Their policy is let's charge high amounts and we only need a few to pay it. Ouch for 80% for us.

2. AM updates their modules very, very, VERY frequently. Care to look at how often the core modules are updated? Most not even in the last 12 months. I'd like to see how you handle the existing modules before you buy up modules that have a good reputation in the market.

3. Will you update/enhance, AF and AS as often as AM does currently?

Side note for those discussing $2k/year. Not only expensive but nuts. It's per DNN install.