You get what you pay for
May 27, 2004
Stacy Tabb has compared Expression Engine and WordPress and has decided in favor of the former. I don’t engage in arguments apropos of findings like hers; the extent of my participation in evangelizing WordPress is detailing its features and passing along feedback to those who need to know. However, her closing paragraph is misleading to an extent (although I do not insinuate any malice or disingenuousness on Stacy’s part). She says:
So, there you have it. Once again, I firmly stand by my lifelong motto: “You get what you pay for.” Expression Engine is $149, $99 if you upgrade from pMachine Pro or other blog software. WordPress is free.
WordPress is licensed under the GNU General Public License. Free is as free goes, but it isn’t junk just because it’s free. Mark Pilgrim explains how the GPL works in favor of greater improvement:
Many people misunderstand Free Software and the GNU General Public License. Many people equate the GPL to the boogeyman, because it’s viral, and that sounds like a bad thing. Here’s what viral licensing means: GPL software has the restrictions that it has, and that’s it. The GPL is quite restrictive on developers, not at all on end users. (More on that in a minute.) Regardless, GPL software has the restrictions that it has, but it can never become more restrictive. An upgrade can’t take away freedoms that I enjoyed with an older version.
A side effect of this is that, if I write a GPL program and then lose interest, and someone else picks it up and continues development, they are forced to release their version under the GPL. A new developer can’t take away freedoms that I enjoyed with the old version either.
[...] WordPress is Free Software. Its rules will never change. In the event that the WordPress community disbands and development stops, a new community can form around the orphaned code. It’s happened once already. In the extremely unlikely event that every single contributor (including every contributor to the original b2) agrees to relicense the code under a more restrictive license, I can still fork the current GPL-licensed code and start a new community around it. There is always a path forward. There are no dead ends.
Movable Type is a dead end. In the long run, the utility of all non-Free software approaches zero. All non-Free software is a dead end.
He posts a follow-up, which further bolsters my conclusions that the tech community can be just as territorial and political in their own interests as we warbloggers are. I use a lot of non-free software too. And I use a lot of free software as well. Open Office Dot Org for example, is undergoing development at a seemingly greater pace than most proprietary office suites. It is this kind of development branching that Movable Type and Expression Engine do not have. It is this kind of community-based development that WordPress uses to its great advantage. And this is what I get for free.
13 Comments to You get what you pay for
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It is, of course, my opinion, and primarily based, as I explained, on the needs/quirks of my clients. For those of us who are NOT developers, we need a package that flies, right out of the box, not one who’s bells and whistles must be hacked into place. I just don’t have time to learn PHP right now.
The fact is that “learning” a set of propietary tags is no harder than “learning” a set of PHP functions, the only difference is some minor syntax. However if people are getting the impression that it’s harder because “it’s PHP” and they don’t know that then we’re presenting something wrong.
The impression I’m getting is that more professional web tech/design people like WordPress, because they’re familiar with CSS and PHP, which is what the majority of non-blog websites use. People who have worked strictly in the weblog realm don’t seem as enthusiatic about WP. I agree with Matt that tags are tags, and that maybe WP’s implementation needs to be communicated better to the blogging community.
And there is my other argument (in general terms) against open source software…the documentation is either ridiculously paltry, or entirely communicated in forum format. If I don’t speak the language, doing endless searches in the forums becomes a huge timesink, and as I said, no time for love, Dr. Jones.
In time, Stacy, the documentation will grow and get consolidated. Though WordPress may be ready for a lot of people I hope with time it will be ready for you, and others, as well.
I am always willing to try something new…perhaps 1.2 will change my mind since I was using 1.0.1 for my initial testing. Upgrading now. Thanks for all the great input though.
Oh you’re more than welcome. You know how to reach me. I’ve been using WP since its inception and am more than willing to help.
1.2 is a dramatic improvement in a lot of areas. You’ll probably have a better perspective once you take a look