How to choose an open-source CMS
In this issue of Industry Insider, Seth Gottlieb, content management practice lead at Optaros, explains how one should go about selecting an open-source content management system.
The source code is not the only thing that is open about open-source software.
Open source happens out in the open. By subscribing to user mail lists and other communication channels, it is easy to learn about what others are doing with the software, which features are good, and which features need work. Reading a project roadmap or the publicly accessible bug lists will tell you where the project is going, who is driving it, and whether the team is well organised. You can also get a feel for the personalities and the social dynamics of the group.
As you read through the archives, pay attention to questions that do not get answered and who answers the questions that do get answered. Having several people actively posting answers is a sign of a strong community that will survive if one of its principals moves on. Also look at the content of the answers. A reference to a document means that a document exists -- a good sign! A long set of step by step instructions may indicate that there is insufficient documentation and processes for creating documentation. It may also indicate that users need to constantly deal with work-arounds rather than actively maintaining the code base. For example, if you see instructions like "comment out the line that says x and add the following code …" it could mean no one is patching in those fixes.
Look at (or have your technical staff look at) the development guides and practices. Better-managed projects have functionality roadmaps, a clearly defined release process, coding standards, and use practices like unit tests which automatically verify that additions do not break other parts of the code base. Reading through the developer site should make it clear how the community decides how functionality is assigned to releases and what kind of testing occurs.
Browsing through the bug tracking system will tell you how active the software being tested is and how efficiently issues are being resolved.
Most importantly, you can actually try the software.
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