[support] Multi Site Question . . .

[Jason Flatt]

I currently have in place several sites using Drupal with immediate plans to 
do more in the near future. Because of the way I have configured my server, 
most of those sites have their own installations. I have thought many times 
about moving them all into a single installation for ease of maintenance, but 
I have not done so for one reason: what happens if I have a site that is 
using a module that gets abandoned or doesn't get upgraded in a timely 
manner? And with multi-sites and the potential to have several sites on a 
single installation (like > 20), there's a good likelihood that on a major 
upgrade (like from 4.6 to 4.7 or 4.7 to 5.0), I will have more than one such 
module.

I really see only three options: 1) don't upgrade any site until the modules 
are all current -- not really practical for abandoned modules, 2) uninstall 
the offending module(s) and live without it(them) -- also not practical if it 
turns out that it(they) are key to the site, and 3) upgrade and/or maintain 
the module(s) myself -- also not necessarily practical if we're talking 
several modules and free time being at a premium. I think for me the only 
option that makes any sense (other than not combining all the sites into a 
single installation, which may turn out to be the best option) is option #3. 
Does anyone else have any words of wisdom to offer?

-- 
Jason Flatt
http://www.oadaeh.net/
Father of Six:  http://www.flattfamily.com/ (Joseph, 13; Cramer, 11; Travis, 
9; Angela; Harry, 5; and William, 12:04 am, 12-29-2005)
Linux User:     http://www.sourcemage.org/
Drupal Fanatic: http://drupal.org/