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The Web CMS Report 2008 looks at... Drupal

"It is rare that a Drupal implementation team does not utter the words "there is a module that does that." However, it does take some time for the module developers to catch up to the architectural changes introduced by each major release of the core. Module developers are responsible for testing and giving honest descriptions on the state of their modules (such as alpha, beta, and what version of the core the module is compatible with). A big part of the version compatibility issues with modules is that module developers do not have standard ways to interact with Drupal resources so they write their own database queries and directly access the file system. When the Drupal core changes the way it stores its data, modules break. There is no central body to evaluate modules or state what version they are compatible with. Unfortunately, the best information about the quality of a module is still usually word of mouth by the Drupal specialists who are constantly experimenting with new modules as they are released. "

More about The Web CMS Report 2008

 

VC funding for Drupal?

30-Nov-2007

I've heard from several different sources about a "hot deal" for venture capital funding of a Drupal-oriented start-up called Acquia. Acquia has been in stealth mode, but not for long -- "hot" means likely to get funded, perhaps by a consortium of VCs. Acquia will release has released an FAQ outlining the new company, formed with a CEO and some developers, as well as the participation of Drupal founder and über-committer Dries Buytaert as Acquia CTO. As Web CMS Report readers know, Dries is revered in the Drupal community by creating both a culture and a technical framework for the project where a thousand flowers could bloom in the form of pluggable, community-contributed "modules." Rare is the Drupal implementation without a unique bouquet of such modules.

As someone who tries to follow open source governance models I find this development fascinating. Clearly there's an opportunity here. Drupal is riding the Web 2.0 wave on two fronts: as a tool built from the ground up to support user-generated content, and (consequently) as a favored platform choice many Web 2.0 start-ups -- who sometimes found the product lacking the kind of maturity and readiness one would want to stake a business on. VCs are anxious to ride this wave. Some sort of formal commercial venture thus seems quite inevitable.

Acquia says in its FAQ that they will play nicely with the community and add new intellectual property to the project. That makes good sense for all concerned.

And yet, large raucous communities don't always cotton to even the hint of one of their members assuming a leadership mantle (or oversized share of profits) out of the blue. It's one thing when a commercial company founds a project (c.f., Zope or Alfresco) and then has to negotiate the reins with the community they fervently hoped would join the project. It's quite another for a highly distributed community to ingest a sizable commercial firm without feathers getting ruffled. I won't go out on a limb and predict the kind of turmoil and forks that befell Mambo and threaten Joomla! even today. But if you have staked your website, or even your start-up, on Drupal, you'll want to watch your interests very closely as this unfolds.

- Submitted by: Tony Byrne, Analyst

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