The popular IBM developerWorks site has started a new series entitled "Using open source software to design, develop, and deploy a collaborative Web site". After reviewing numerous open source packages such as Typo3, Mambo, and the ever-hyped Ruby on Rails, they "decided to use Drupal", remarking that it "provided the right combination of framework and flexibility . . . to get the job done".

Drupal is a content management system (CMS) built on the PHP and MySQL combination (detailed requirements here). I've been working with the latest version since its release at the beginning of this month. Drupal 4.7 is a significant upgrade that brings major short- and long-term benefits to users and distributors of the system. It brings Drupal back to the cutting edge of CMS development.

You may recall that I've been working on revamping one of my Web sites with the open-source Drupal content management system (CMS). I'm finally done with the implementation and the design work and I'm well on my way into deployment, so I wanted to let you know that Drupal has ended up working extremely well for me.

There's a certain class of programs that I refer to as the "cranky" ones. They may work great when all is said and done, but getting to that point can be really hard. For me, these include sendmail, QuarkXPress, and now Drupal.