If you caught the State of Drupal presentation (aka Driesnote) from DrupalCon Atlanta, maybe you noticed something missing. There was no news about Drupal 11 or what lies ahead with Drupal 12. Instead, we talked about Drupal CMS, Experience Builder, and the upcoming concept of site templates.

Dries did mention Drupal CMS 1.0 and 2.0, but he didn't have to say anything specific about Drupal 11 or 12. And, to me, that is amazing. The Drupal community has moved to a place of innovation where we can deliver value in such an iterative manner that we aren't paused and waiting for a major version release a year or two away.

Does this mean we've solved all the problems around major version upgrades? No. They're much easier than before but can still be tricky and require a lot of coordination. But I am ecstatic at this subtle shift in the focus of the Driesnote. We used to watch and catch news for what new initiatives would be the focus of our next development cycle. Now, we act and innovate. We can build experimental APIs and ship them every six months in minor versions. This allows us to get feedback quickly and continue to iterate. The transition started before DrupalCon Portland 2024, and we are beginning to see the return of that paradigm shift. The catalyst was the product strategy released as part of the Starshot initiative. This product strategy moved us from focusing on Drupal Core as a primary driver of innovation and milestones achieved by major releases to the entire ecosystem.

I am looking forward to continuing my future in Drupal.