OStatic

There have been an ever increasing number of public organizations and private non-profits -- including medical institutions and educational facilities -- making the move to open source or hybrid open-proprietary software solutions.

Of course there are a number of compelling reasons for this trend beyond the frequently cited savings or escape from vendor lock-in. One of the reasons that the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine chose Bluenog to provide its content management system, web portal and business intelligence software was the flexibility that open source software offered in integrating with its legacy systems and infrastructure.

Undoubtedly, the open source project Drupal is one of the most robust content management systems (CMS) around. It provides the infrastructure and manages processes for many well-known web sites, including The Onion, Fast Company, InfoWorld and OStatic. We've had a great experience with it, and many large media companies are migrating to it and saving money. In our interview with Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal, he described the core contributors to the project as on the same scale as the Linux kernel. There are also over 2,000 modules for Drupal, making it hugely extensible.

Since OStatic's inception, we've collected many good resources for both getting started with Drupal, and extending its functionality if you already use it. Here is our latest update to that ongoing collection--eight great resources, including interviews with Drupal insiders.

Let's face it: developing open source software is a thankless and usually profit-free endeavor. While self-congratulatory award shows for actors and TV programs aren't that big a deal to most people, open source award programs are often all the recognition some community members get.

On the heels of the recently concluded SourceForge Community Choice Awards comes the announcement of the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards sponsored by technology book publisher Packt Publishing. Winners and runners-up from each of the five categories will win from $500 - $4,000 and take home a share of prize money totaling $24,000. Six 8 GB iPods will also be awarded at random to individuals who have visited the Packt's Web site to nominate their favorite projects.

Discussion forums may seem antiquated in a world of 140-character conversations but they're still a vital part of online group communication. If you want to add a place for your Web site visitors to meet and chat, then have a look at the open source discussion forum CMS, Vanilla.

Earlier this week I wrote about ways museums are turning to open source software as one way to deal with declining attendance and lack of funding to cover operational costs. Of course, there's more to running a nonprofit organization than managing collections or scheduling volunteers to run exhibits.

Web-based open source constituent management solution Orange Leap (CMS) helps nonprofits maintain and manage relationships with the patrons, sponsors, and community members whose donations help keep their doors open.

Since the buzzwords of the day seem to be microblogging and lifestreaming, it seems like good, old-fashioned blogging is a thing of the past -- but it isn't. In fact, user-friendly blogging software applications have turned into full-blown content management systems (CMS) thanks to Web 2.0? technology.

Tried-and-true CMS options like Drupal and WordPress will always play a big part in the world of blogging, and do a great job of adapting to the changing needs of bloggers. If you're looking for an option that's new and fresh, however, Habari is an up and coming next-generation blogging package that's worth keeping an eye on.

There are a number of full featured open source content management systems out there. Content management systems (CMS) are used increasingly in lieu of more traditionally managed web pages, on various sites with diverse audiences and very different goals. They can be updated quickly, easily, and require very little (if any) knowledge of how the inner plumbing works.

There are, of course, proprietary CMS platforms. Many -- from individuals to businesses -- opt for open source alternatives. Cost is naturally a factor, but having used both closed and open CMS platforms, it's been my experience that the open alternatives offer better features, an increased ability to modify and customize easily, and behave with more consistency in different browsers than most of their closed counterparts.

Finding the right open CMS for your needs is the hardest part. But there are a few considerations and rules of thumb that can make this decision a little easier.