So for those for whom Drupal is not just a short term solution for a client, but part of a long strategy for developing a successful consulting business (or other types of career advancement), the community is very important, and even the end users of which Liza speaks.
hear hear...
Check out the Google results on these phrase and term combinations:
"Drupal sucks" 627 hits "Mambo sucks" 289 hits "PostNuke sucks" 341 hits "Plone sucks" 123 hits
"Drupal is easy" 100 hits "Mambo is easy" 656 hits "PostNuke is easy" 117 hits "Plone is easy" 514 hits
"Drupal is hard" 52 hits "Mambo is hard" 43 hits "PostNuke is hard" 5 hits "Plone is hard" 28 hits
"Drupal is difficult" 280 hits "Mambo is difficult" 89 hits "PostNuke is difficult" 44 hits "Plone is difficult" 14 hits
Now what's interesting are these keyword stats:
Drupal usability 372,000 hits Mambo usability 338,000 hits PostNuke usability 82,900 hits Plone usability 147,000 hits
A lot of talk about Drupal usability, but it seems that more needs to be accomplished to change public perception.
I am convinced that a lot of this is about expectations. If I buy a chair at the furniture store and I get home and find a boxful of wood and screws then I may not be very happy (yes I should have done more research - but I'm not the smartest person in the world - a characteristic I happily share with a large number of people). I think we could make a huge impact on perceptions without having to write a single line of code.