Announcing the availability of Sakai 2.5.0:
http://source.sakaiproject.org/release
Sakai 2.5 incorporates a large number of refinements and refactoring touches at both the tool layer and framework level, with over 1200 bug fixes and 300 enhancements. One new provisional tool (Reset Password) has been added, while two very successful provisional tools (OSP and Tests & Quizzes) have been promoted to the enterprise bundle. One tool (Discussion) has been retired, being replaced by other options (e.g., Forums).
The Sakai 2.5.0 release is dedicated to the memory of the late Marc Brierley, a member of the Sakai community since its inception, whose work as a user interaction designer at Stanford University helped shape the Sakai release today.
For more detailed information on the release, please see the Sakai 2.5.0 Release Notes.
As part of the Sakai 2.5 release, we have also made significant changes in our release process. New with Sakai 2.5 we extended our QA cycle to include betas and release candidates, which helped further refine the release though the work of early adopters in the community. Special thanks go to the University of Cape Town, South Africa, who has been running Sakai 2.5 in production since it became available as a beta release in December 2007, and who contributed a great deal of assistance and leadership in vetting the release and managing the 2.5.x maintenance branch.
The commitment to future maintenance releases for Sakai 2.5 (e.g., 2.5.1, 2.5.2, ...) represents another important improvement in the Sakai release process. These maintenance releases are aimed at those in the community who do not have the resources or desire to closely follow bug fixing activity in the 2.5.x maintenance branch. The maintenance releases will be created from the maintenance branch at periodic intervals, with the Sakai 2.5.1 likely being released in the next month or so. The maintenance branch and releases will be maintained for Sakai 2.5 for a period of two-years, or longer, if there is sufficient community interest.
Thanks to all in the community who contributed to making this release possible.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.