I think (if I've understood it correctly) that actually what Dan was saying was that this isn't a black and white argument. It just isn't the case that "OS IS BETTER/CHEAPER/NICER/etc THAN PROPIETARY". It is case by case dependent, as it is when you're - say - choosing to work with an individual (cheaper, easier, but more likely to get hit by a bus) or with a company (more expensive, harder work, but likely to have more 'security').
It is also worth pointing out that most often these systems are - and will increasingly become - a complex hybrid of disparate systems. Increasingly, it is the -modularity- of these systems that is important, not the "Open Sourceness" of the underlying code. What makes WP successful in large part is that themes, plugins and so on can be authored and bolted on *without* touching or worrying about the underlying code.
Each case is subtle. OS types aren't "right", and nor are supporters of proprietary systems. As is almost always the case, *it depends*.
ta
Mike
Mike Ellis
Research and Innovation Group
Eduserv
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tel: 01225 470522
mob: 07017 031522
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www.eduserv.org.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hayden Young
Sent: 11 November 2009 15:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: CMS recommendations
Dan, if I purchase your product and a few months later we have a falling
out, who do I go to for continued support of my system? What about if I want
to find a cheaper supplier?
What about if I find that the system almost does what I want it to do but I
need to make some hacks to the core? What about if I want to distribute
those hacks to a number of museums that are using the same system? What
about if I fix some bugs and want to distribute those fixes to other users?
Now, which system do you think is more flexible? The free and open source
one, or your proprietary one?
If you want systems that are scalable and flexible your only option should
be free and open source. Proprietary products are showing their shortcomings
time and again when it comes to performance, security and reliability.
As for evidence, check out the sea your history project
http://www.seayourhistory.org.uk. Hosts 50,000+ multimedia assets, images,
sound, video, text and all on Joomla!. Hardly a simple, out-of-the-box web site.
Cheers
Hayden
On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:20:35 +0000, Dan Zambonini <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>First off, massive disclaimer/conflict of interest: my company makes a CMS
>(whose name I won't mention to lessen the conflict).
>
>I am a fan of open source systems, and use them myself on a number of
>personal websites. They're quick and do-the-job for a semi-technical person
>like myself who can tweak them to do what I need to run a blog or simple
>site.
>
>However, to say that they are "almost always going to be way better and more
>flexible and extensible than any proprietary system" is misleading.
>
>In the last few months, I've installed and used the most recent version of
>nearly every major open source PHP CMS I could find: Drupal, Joomla,
>Wordpress MU, etc. (Our CMS is PHP, though commercial open source, so this
>was for competitive research).
>
>Each has pros and cons (I'd go as far to say that most of these are NOT
>flexible and extensible, with the exception of Drupal), both relative to
>one-another and to commercial/commercial-open-source offerings. I wouldn't
>say that ANY of them were more flexible or extensible than our offering, or
>that of a number of our commercial competitors. Sure, some have more
>modules, but this comes with its own drawbacks (Want an events calendar?
>Hey, why not look through 35 of them to see if any of them work!).
>
>This could turn into a heated debate, which I imagine might be more opinion
>based than evidence based (in reality, how many of us have actually used all
>the open source and commercial offerings out there?), so think I'll stop
>now... But just wanted to put a word in for the other side!
>
>Dan
>
>PS I do *really* like Wordpress (for blogs) though. It rocks.
>
>
>On 11/11/2009 13:54, "Tom Jenkins" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>>> Michael Guthrie
>>> Sent: 11 November 2009 12:52
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: CMS recommendations
>>>
>>> Hi Karen
>>>
>>> I would say that using an Open Source solution like Joomla or Drupal
>> is
>>> most advantageous, and doesn't lock you in to inflexible, proprietary
>>> and unnecessarily expensive licenses from vendors.
>>
>> Just wanted to say - absolutely second this. One of the top open source
>> system like Drupal or Joomla is almsot always going to be way better and
>> more flexible and extensible than any proprietary system, mainly because
>> of the huge critical mass the contributing communities for these open
>> source systems tend to gather.
>
>----------------------------------------
>Dan Zambonini
>Box UK
>Internet Development and Consultancy
>
>t: +44 (0)29 2022 8822
>f: +44 (0)29 2022 8820
>e: [log in to unmask]
>w: http://www.boxuk.com
>----------------------------------------
>
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