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<font face="Verdana">Gunnar, I think you expressed that quite well. I,
too, feel that the meta-project is going in the right direction. The
ongoing improvements on the site, in the handbooks, etc. <br>
<br>
There could be a lot more, sure. But speaking for myself, pre-Joomla at
least, I found Mambo's site resources to be confusing. I know many
people have pointed there as a model of what could be, but I consider
it a warning, too. While we might take a page from their book, so to
speak, there's a lot to Drupal.org that already is better -- and not
just that it's running Drupal.<br>
<br>
I especially like how there have been incremental efforts to build more
community -- to find resources, to engage in conversations, to
brainstorm ideas. I look forward to more, and the sub-communities idea
for major packages gets a big +1 from me.<br>
<br>
FWIW, I don't consider your remarks a rant. No apologies necessary, for
me anyway.<br>
<br>
Laura<br>
<br>
</font>
<div class="moz-signature"><a href="http://www.pingv.com">pingVision</a>
| interactive media design<br>
<b>Laura Scott</b>, President<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:laura@pingv.com">laura@pingv.com</a> • 303.459.4859<br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
Gunnar Langemark wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid43A11D25.8030500@langemark.com" type="cite">What
are the pros and cons of being a very widely used CMF (Content
Management Framework)?
<br>
<br>
For a consultant it is always a barrier if the system you're pitching
is totally unknown and has no track record, so being used by lots of
sites must be good, and being the CMS of choice by lots of high profile
companies is even better.
<br>
<br>
But popularity for the sake of popularity may not be all good.
<br>
<br>
To me it is clear that the Drupal community right now is experiencing
some problems with becoming more widely known. Tons of people coming to
Drupal expecting yet another Mambo/PostNuke - or at least something so
simple they can start hacking away at their installation right away. No
one wants to read documentation, no one wants to meet words and
concepts they don't know - and yet everybody expects Drupal to be much
more powerful than whatever they had before was.
<br>
<br>
Drupal is a very ambitious project. We have different "distributions",
packages of modules - like E-commerce, tons of smaller functionality
add ons like the new cool service_links module. It all adds to the
confusion amongst newbies and everybody else (who can seriously say
they have a perfect grasp of all the modules in contrib?).
<br>
<br>
Drupal is clearly getting very big, very powerful - even for a
nonprogramming consultant like me, very much more mature (the interface
usability has improved immensely since 4.0 - my first installation).
This makes it more feasible to go for market share and popularity.
<br>
<br>
Drupal process and projects - like security, documentation etc. shows
that this is a maturing project. As I see it, Drupal is not giving in
to chaos. The guys at the helm, are taking care of the growth
challenges, which is good.
<br>
<br>
So where am I getting at?
<br>
<br>
For a consultant, I think that the ideal way for Drupal to develop
would be:
<br>
<br>
* Make process and project teams even more visible. A professional
<br>
organisation, with teams working on all relevant issues is a plus.
<br>
Make it evident on the website and in the documentation what is
<br>
going on.
<br>
* Let certain "packages" - like E-commerce have their own
<br>
"sub-communities" - and let them stand out. These are specialized
<br>
implementations of Drupal, and should be treated as such. A
<br>
potential client would like to see that the ecommerce people are
<br>
actively pursuing some clear goals.
<br>
* Have clear roadmaps for the development of Drupal and some of the
<br>
modules - next version plans - and a three year visionary thing
too.
<br>
* Make the Drupal themes more "sexy" (there's a good discussion
<br>
about this on the themes list right now.), as the visuals always
<br>
attract way too much attention. Actually I'm convinced that some
<br>
project choose Mambo/Joomly over Drupal exactly for that reason
<br>
and nothing else. Same with Wordpress. And that is a shame. (And I
<br>
don't believe that Drupal is not a blogging system - it is too -
<br>
and it is a better blogging system by far, than Wordpress, if you
<br>
want cool web20 functionality - y'all know... and there's business
<br>
to be made in that area too!)
<br>
<br>
If a client is in the process of making a choice of system he will look
at such things, because he can make sense of it. He does not understand
the technical matters, he hires you to figure that out. But he probably
knows a little about what a healthy business looks like.
<br>
<br>
I believe Drupal is going in the right direction. It can go there even
faster.
<br>
<br>
I don't believe though, that going after popularity in itself - and
using marketing ressources to do so - is a very good thing. Drupal will
just attract a lot of low end users, who expect a simple system - easy
to install, easy to understand, and no challenge to their brain cells.
If Drupal degenerates into a system where terms like "taxonomy" are
considered a "no no", it will have lost its soul and its unique appeal.
<br>
<br>
Sorry about the rant.
<br>
<br>
Best
<br>
Gunnar
<br>
<br>
<br>
Khalid B wrote:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">If we want to think in marketing terms, then
this is an extra channel
<br>
to get Drupal
<br>
in the hands of many people, already packaged and configured. This no
doubt
<br>
increases "market share". Linux distros are used on hosting servers,
corporate
<br>
</blockquote>
_______________________________________________
<br>
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<br>
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<br>
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</blockquote>
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