Other Software > Developer's Corner
Choosing a CMS
Renegade:
Yeah... I know... I'm being overly cranky about it.
But it's a new thing, relatively.
It's like a 5-year old kid asking to rewind and have a "do over". The GPL never had those meanings before. So why now? Why not issue a new license that DOES cover those cases?
I've got nothing against the GPL/FSF, but really --- let's have a "do over" because that's "not really what we meant"?
My snide comment about Linux and the GPL is perfectly in line with what they've done. If software that's written to run on Linux runs on Linux, and needs Linux to run, then shouldn't it be GPL as well? I see no difference at all between the two cases. "If you don't want your software to be GPL, don't write for Linux." That's what it sounds like. I'm not bashing Linux -- I'm just using it as an analogy there. They retroactively changed the license to mean something different.
It's just such an antagonistic stance/interpretation of the GPL.
As for the comments by Simple Machines... Well... You can't expect them to come out and call a spade a shovel because that's not PC.
People that don't like the terms of the GPL should feel free to go out and purchase whatever software they feel would suit their needs better, and conveniently disregard the fact that the EULAs on such products place even greater restrictions on the user than GPL ever would.
--- End quote ---
That's the thing -- the GPL doesn't give you all that much freedom in cases like this. I am interested in USING the software, and don't really care that much about tweaking it or playing with it or any of that. I also want to use another piece of software with it. The GPL stops me from doing that.
As a simple user, my concerns aren't really about the license -- I just want to get a job done. BSD or GPL or proprietary is irrelevant to the task at hand.
But in cases like this, proprietary licenses give you a lot more freedom. It's just a different kind of freedom.
JavaJones:
As far as I know there's nothing retroactive about it, it's just a stricter *interpretation* and/or enforcement of the license. The GPL license always had some clauses in it that were potentially contentious and made co-existing with closed-source projects tenuous. The Joomla project people decided that the benefits of being truly GPL compliant outweighed the risks and they went for better enforcement. So far the results are ok, though closer to the time of the "great purge" it was pretty painful seeing some of the better and more useful modules go away or at least be taken out of the extension directory (the SMF bridge being one of them).
All that being said, SMF was never native to Joomla, and a bridge is a bridge is a bridge, so I don't really understand your lament here; if the SMF bridge would have met your needs, why not JFusion? If anything Jfusion is better than your average bridge because it can bridge to multiple systems at once, thus if you ever find yourself wanting to link with not just SMF but also Magento or Moodle or other supported systems, then you don't need to add yet another bridge, you just enable that link in the already installed Jfusion. And in fact because it's a bigger system that supports multiple other systems it's likely to stick around for longer as interest is pooled from multiple cross-communities.
Another point is, if you're ok with a "less than SMF level functionality" forum, why not Kunena? It's very well integrated into Joomla, and actually its functionality is in many regards nearly comparable with SMF (possibly more so than the native DNN forum solution?).
- Oshyan
Renegade:
I'm skittish about things. I don't want to start using something, then 2 years later when I'm seriously invested in it, get screwed by seeing something gone. SMF has been around for a long time, so I'm confident that it will be around in the future. Same with vBulletin.
Kunena? Dunno... It's not ready for Joomla 1.6, and I don't want to start using yesterdays problems (1.5) when tomorrow's problems (1.6) are much more fun~! Also, I really am not that familiar with them, so my trust level is low. Especially on a WIMP server. LAMP? Ok, maybe.
To be honest, I'd rather just buy software from a solid company than get GPL software for free. A profitable company will keep doing things to make money. Free software with no revenue model isn't really something that I can put much faith in, especially for something like a website where once you're committed, you're in all the way.
Desktop software is easy to swap out. Server software is pure Hell to swap out, if you can.
For JFusion... Just frustrated -- after reading more of the GPL infection stuff, I just figured that it's simply not worth it. If they decide to be strict, then it's screw-time again. They say they're compatible with stuff, but God only knows. A number of years ago the GPL was compatible with using different scripts together and now it's not. (Just make up your minds already...) :(
I was just really looking forward to using SMF. I saw it in the Joomla directory, got all excited that I'd be able to get SMF running... then went to the Simple Machines site to check on it. It was a real let-down. :(
From looking in the Joomla directory, there are no forums available that I would consider using.
Forum software is relatively complex, and can cause you no end of pain when it's buggy, and once you have it running, it needs to run because migrating to a new forum is excruciatingly, mind-numbingly painful.
DNN has minor issues that can be safely ignored, and I'm ok with that. Not happy with it, but ok with it.
JavaJones:
1.6 just came out. Hardly any plugins are ready for it, so that's no surprise. Give it a couple months. If you want to do a site *now*, go with 1.5 (if you go with Joomla at all of course).
Commercial software is far from any guarantee of longevity. In fact in the commercial CMS market it may be just the opposite. Due to the amount of stiff competition from free/open source options, many commercial vendors have gone under or gone into "minimal life support" mode. Being commercial they also tend to have smaller communities and less community support (the flip side to having commercial support, of course). That often means less modules/plugins too. The leaders in their respective categories do tend to rise above these issues, vBulletin being one good example (although have you seen the vB back end? UGH!) in that it has a strong community and lots of mods. But that's also partly legacy from being around longer than most other options, free or otherwise. CMSs tend to be even more fragmented, and the "big boys" in that market are quite expensive, while the littler (and cheaper) ones are just not all that well supported outside the company.
Anyway, it sounds like you've made up your mind. Not the choice I'd make of course, but if you're happy with it, that's what matters. :)
- Oshyan
Renegade:
DotNetNuke has a good model. It's free with a BSD license for the community edition, and a paid commercial edition. They've also got consulting services and a thriving market with free and paid for modules. It's only been growing, and seems to be doing very well.
But you are right about the CMS market being like that. I wouldn't go for Ektron. And it's one of the reasons why I wanted to take a shot at Joomla.
As for 1.5, I just can't put myself through upgrade hell again. Been there... Hated it... Still have the trauma, emotional scars and PTSD~! :) (Like I said -- skittish!)
If everything breaks from 1.5 to 1.6, then there's no way I'm going down that path.
I would have loved to have seen an SMF connector for CMS MS.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version