Is Joomla! at a Crossroads?
By HarryB - Posted on 20 March 2010
Two views on the current state of Joomla!
- Wither thou goest Joomla! ... read full article
- The competition Joomla is losing is the one it's not in ... read full article
About this CMS Enthusiast
Harry has been knocking around the IT industry since the days of punched cards and magnetic tapes. He has spent most of his career as a network engineer; however, he has also dabbled in software development, and, as a result is quite adept at development in a number of obsolete programming languages.
In the CMS world, he is currently an equal opportunity user of Drupal, Joomla! and Wordpress. In the real world, he lives with his wife and two terrible terriers about 20 miles west of Washington, DC.
Harry is known on Twitter as @harryb_hrpr and also maintains a personal web site at www.hrpr.com.
Comments
#1 Drupal no longer competes with Joomla!
I found it interesting that in both articles, Joomla! sees Drupal as one of its main competitors. In my observation, Drupal has moved on to compete against the bigger heavyweights in the world of CMS. When you talk to many in Drupal's open source community, Joomla! rarely gets mentioned in the conversation unless it's from a newbie still deciding which CMS is right for them.
I think the Joomla! community needs to ask, do they want to compete in the market Drupal is now trying to compete in? It may be that Joomla's success isn't in the bigger market for CMS, but as a niche player. If that's the case, that's not a bad thing! Embrace it...
#2 Bryan.... I agree. My
Bryan....
I agree. My opinion - Joomla! leadership (and community) need to realize that their niche is in smaller and boutique markets and get on with it. And the community needs to quit their search for non-existent conspiracies and nefarious plots to do them in. And, once and for all, the community needs to stop trying to promote Joomla by calling attention to what they consider Wordpress and Drupal shortcomings. It does nothing but make them look a bunch of technically challenged know-nothings to those who really know what each project's capabilities and limitations are.
Personally, I think Wordpress is more likely to chip away at Joomla's installed base in future rather than Drupal.
#3 WordPress is the new Joomla!
You're probably right in that WordPress is much more of a threat to Joomla's base than Drupal. WordPress has evolved from its roots as a blogging application to a more CMS-like application. I've heard from quite a few people that started with Joomla! but more and more are designing sites with WordPress.
#4 That comment makes you look like a bully
Harry, your whole comment makes you look like a big bully who just beat Joomla up on the playground and is proud of himself for doing so. Not cool dude. Joomla knows its niche is small business. Joomla talks about Drupal because they want some sort of functionality like it, or they don't want some sort of functionality that it has. So how about you stop being a bully. I think it is not Joomla whom has a problem with it, but you who does.
#5 Bully??
I stand by what I said about the state of the Joomla! community at the time I said it. If you consider that bullying, so be it..
I must admit though, things are looking much better in the short time the new regime as been in place. Who knows..maybe some of what you call bullying by myself (and others) has resulted in a change for the better.
regards,
HarryB
#6 Crossroads, Shmossroads. They're just arguing.
First of all, if you're in the Open Source world, and you're doing everything right, you're always at a "crossroads."
Second, you must have just started reading up on Joomla! to think they're at a crossroads; this kind of arguing and heavy-handed self-criticism is par for the course. Crossroads? Nah. It's just Dan, Amy and a few others throwing dishes at each other.
No cause for Joomla! alarm. Seriously.
Unlike other so-called "communities" in the OS world, the Joomla! community has a lot of passion, and thus, they blow off a lot of steam. Seems dysfunctional, I know, but it's just the "push-me pull-you approach" toward growth you don't much see in the corporate CMS world (at least in front of the firewall).
Innovation ain't pretty. Ever. But don't be fooled to think a public argument like that is somehow indicative of an organization on the brink.
Joomla! has found a way - oddly enough - to not just survive, but prosper, exactly on the razor's edge. It's uncanny.
#7 John...with all due
John...with all due respect....
I have been a member of the Joomla! community since its inception and Mambo before that. I am far past the point of "reading up" on them. Need verification of that...ask Amy!
Agreed that Joomla! is far from stepping over the edge. However, I stand by what I stated in my comments here and in the original post that provoked them.
P.S. And I'm, also quite familiar with Drupal, Wordpress, and more than a few other open source projects and their modus operandi. Maybe even way past the "reading up" stage on some of them too! ;.-)
regards,
HarryB
#8 Evolution isn't the answer
I'm definitely an outsider looking in when it comes to Joomla! But honestly, I'm an outsider to any open source CMS...it's the only way to keep from being fully bias. I'd argue though that not all that public argument is because of innovation taking place but perhaps the lack of moving forward.
It's not the appearance of dysfunction that bothers ousiders as much as the unanswered reasons to why such turmoil exists in the Joomla! community in the first place. I think the answer is simple, but I think the Joomla! community has to find that answer on their own.