@datakick The updater is the first step to fixing this. The updater is going to be based off of Git practices for code management and for merging changes. Just because the core code base is legacy, it does not mean that the most important and time consuming parts of the new updater module need to be legacy as well. The module wrapper does need to be though.
What the updater is giving way to, is for us to start fixing the tangled legacy code base. It will allow us time to work on the code base. Like @Traumflug mentioned earlier, he is working on scripts to make the build process more stable and automatic. The updater module is doing the same thing. As much as we would like for it to be the case, just downloading the repo, running composer, and zipping it back up is not the way the package builds. There are translations, database changes, submodules that get out of sync. Before we started working on the scripts it took around 4-5 hours to build a release. Now it takes 4-5 minutes. With the updater we have the issues. The same amount of time, but with a spaghetti codebase that is falling apart. So not only are we making updates, we are patching the updater to actually work too. This is why we want to make an updater.
Saving time is the only way we are going to get ahead with a small team. We have to look at our processes and refine them to cut the fat out. Two months ago if we decided to release a new version with an update we would be looking at 10-15 hours of work. Now we are looking at around 8. Once we get the updater finished we will be looking at 10 minutes worth of work. That is 9:50 that can be spent somewhere else.
As for time and plans. In the last month the GDPR module has had over 200 hours worth of work. Its a big fix to a tough problem. A problem we do not feel is handled correctly by most of the other modules on the market, so we are trying to handle it correctly.
As far as a rough roadmap, this is what we have discussed so far, but nothing is set in stone yet.
1.0.x - just bug fixes
1.1.x - modernize the front end, convert to bootstrap 4 and have a new theme
1.2.x - modernize the backend, convert to bootstrap 4 and have a new theme
Of course features will be added permitting they will not break things, but those are the main points.