By alliax on
I really feel there's something fishy about this Packt Award: WINNER OF BEST PHP CMS at Open Source CMS Awards 2007
Already last year they made Joomla the winner, when it's clear that Drupal is the best, and this year it's the same? I can't bear it, the credibility of the judges is close to ZERO to me after this result!
Comments
What's worse is that
What's worse is that Wordpress won the Best Open Source Social Networking Content Management System.
Now don't get me wrong... I like what Wordpress does but I don't think I've ever seen a Social Networking website based on Wordpress.
I really wonder what the judges were looking at???
My opinion!
I know a number of web dev types that swear by Joomla - mostly because they fear complexity.
I also know a number of developers (coders) that swear by Drupal, because the understand the power of flexibility.
Here is my opinion why Joomla wins (but remember, I love Drupal - I am an x-coder).
Out of the box Joomla is easy to configure, and their extensions (although not as powerful and flexible as Drupal) are easy to turn on. Remember, easy to use is easy to say.
So, this brings up the age old challenge - how do you make flexibility feel easy so that the non-experts feel comfortable getting in.
It sounds easy but it's a real challenge. For example, when you look at the Drupal site for assistance in getting something done you find there are so many ways to do it, this will turn many people off in fear that if they choose the wrong way they will be stuck.
In my opinion - Everyone likes evolution, but most fear revolution - even if it's for the better.
...mostly because they fear
Most people prefer straightforward solutions to complex ones ;) Simplicity and extensibility/flexibility need not be mutually exclusive.
Yes, really fishy !!!
Yes, really fishy, but it's ok as we all know here that Drupal is the best !
http://www.oliondor.com
At least Drupal won the
At least Drupal won the overall award! So that's even more stupid that they awarded joomla when in the PHP CMS category joomla and drupal were against each others... oh well...
Settle down
Drupal won the overall category, succeeding Joomla, and I think that's really saying something. Drupal placed second in the PHP category. Remember, competition is good.
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:/
It would clear the fog if you understood that no single CMS can place first on any more then a single award. Thus Drupal wound up with highest honors & The largest check this year. Last year there was only one category by which to judge the entries. This year there is 5. This helps spread the money around and support more then a handful of Open Source Projects.
Also of note the timeline of awards:
At the time this thread was created "all" awards weren't even announced yet, As such the Original Poster jumped the gun by 2 days.
Look here at a Joomlas Lead Developer comments : http://drupal.org/node/188772#comment-619407 with regards to Drupal taking top honors. IMHO, that's class and as a community we should strive to be equally classy whether drupal wins, loses or draws.
Packt should be applauded for what they are doing for Open Source Software and the fact that they have spread around a Total Prize fund: $20,000. I don't think they should be jeered because you don't agree with the winners of a specific category. Afterall judging is supposed to be done with an open mind and an unbiased heart.
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My posts & comments are usually dripping with sarcasm.
If you ask nicely I'll give you a towel : )
It would clear the fog if
Well that is mentionned nowhere on the page, so one would have to guess this rule!
And the fact that wordpress won the best social networking cms instead of drupal, and then joomla won the best php cms over drupal, that was getting double weird!
Now of course the overall award has been won by drupal and that is TOTALLY NORMAL, at least drupal is recognized.
I'm sorry but in any movie award, a movie can win best director, best original soundtrack, best actor, etc.
putting drupal second on best php cms means there's a better one, which i think is not true at the moment!
maybe between joomla 1.5 and drupal 5.3 the difference is smaller, but the version judged was joomla 1.0.x
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wrong again!
see: http://www.packtpub.com/award_timeline & http://www.packtpub.com/award (scroll to bottom of either page)
Both of the above links are to the official packt publishing website; Once on either of the pages, scroll to bottom and read the publicly dipsplayed offical rules. I agree that it is mentioned no where on the page you link to in your first post. However the link you've given is not a link to the offical packt publishing site.
Quoted above for convience:
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Open Source Software isn't movies and the reasoning behind the two award systems are totally different.. Also note that because it is a contest packt created, packt can also create the rules with regards to how the prizes are to be disbursed. When you are in position to give away $20,000 yourself , you yourself can create your own rules. ; )
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My posts & comments are usually dripping with sarcasm.
If you ask nicely I'll give you a towel : )
Here's what I see as rule 4.
Here's what I see as rule 4. on http://www.packtpub.com/award :
"
4. A CMS cannot win the Overall category and the Most Promising category. They must be won by different CMS’s.
"
OK, so since Drupal wasn't in the Most Promising category, that didn't qualify, and any I think the rule you mention is totally stupid, if Drupal cannot win both the best PHP CMS and Overall CMS, then remove it from the list of finalists, because if Joomla wins the best PHP CMS and Drupal comes second, it looks like Joomla is a better PHP CMS than Drupal, ok?
I don't care if I'm not organising this Award, it sucks to invent such stupid rules!
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I disagree. As this shows where Drupal was recognized even if it did not win that specific award. Showing 2nd in Best PHP CMS is wonderful for both Drupal and the community of Drupal users.
It may indeed look that way to "you". However, I believe we will have to agree to disagree.
It is my belief that your view is far too narrow and you are entitled to that narrow view. You seem very focused on the fact that the award uses a title that includes the usage of the words "Best PHP" and you refuse to take into consideration the word "Overall".
If Drupal wins the overall award, this means Joomla comes in 2nd overall. Overall is the largest single award and Drupal won that. Best PHP award is a secondary award and congratulations are in order to the Joomla devs and community for recieving it. I am sure they will spend their award wisely as will the Drupal Association. Both CMS's walked away with $5000 dollars for their efforts.
read: http://www.packtpub.com/award_timeline
Agreed that the other link seems unfinished where #4 is concered. One of the reasons I posted both links. I think you knew this and only relinked to the page that you felti bolstered your side of the debate.
also note: http://www.packtpub.com/award_timeline
Thus the largest most recognized award which is also the award with the largest prize is the overall award. That being said "again". Drupal came in first and recieved top honors despite your focus on a secondary award.
I think it is important to remember that packt publishing does not have to do anything at all for the Open Source community. The fact that they do what they do and spread the awards around in the fashion that they do should be applauded. With Open Source everyone wins, including people who come off as ungrateful and want to find fault for no reason. I assure you, I am pointing no fingers ; )
Maybe Packt will change the rules again next year to avoid such a narrow view of the award titles. Until then, I think the debate is totally moot at this point.
If the prizes weren't seperated in the fashion they are and a single CMS won every award, and that CMS wasn't Drupal, what good would that do? (rhetorical question, no need to asnwer)
Obviously I am all for spreading the wealth. The title under which that wealth is given doesn't matter to me much. I believe it is better to be recognized then to be ignored.
Ye may have last word, if you are so inclined ; )
Good luck in your endeavors, whatever they may be.
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My posts & comments are usually dripping with sarcasm.
If you ask nicely I'll give you a towel : )
yes, i read your message and
yes, i read your message and only pointed out the faulty rule 4 to show you that it is not clear at all for people, you understand very well and all, but people don't read the fine print and will not think that if drupal comes second in best php cms and best social network cms it's because it came first in overall category. OK, I don't care what people will think yes, and it's not my money so let it be spread to open source projects.
But all I'm saying is that if one cms cannot win first place because it is winning first place in another category, then write it down on each each result page and in bigger and clearer than rule 4 at the bottom of a page. Because movies award or music award don't work like that as I already said, so if Packt make a very different rule then it would be nice if next year they can remind it clearly as they announce result.
Now if they don't do it, it's not the end of the world either :-)
There a big differences between the two CMS
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The number of users in Joomla is so large getting the votes was not a problem, and Joomla also does a big job of promoting their users to Vote.
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