Re: [school-discuss] Metadot and MIT

[Cameron Miller <cdmiller@adams.edu>]

Thanks,

I will check out ez publisher.

I run mysql on several servers without violating the GPL.  MySql is dual 
licensed, GPL and their commercial license, similar to the ez publisher 
dual GPL and commercial license.

Not being able to use multiple databases detracts from a products 
usefulness for me.  If it is written using a database abstraction layer, 
like the perl DBI/DBD or php's Pear DB or adodb the product can easily 
use multiple database back ends.  I once saw an internal product moved 
from mysql on HPUX to mssql on Windows NT with changes to a couple of 
connect strings thanks to the DBI/DBD.

It's good to hear the mysql developers sought assistance from the 
postgres folks, and I am sure the postgres folks were more than willing 
to help.  That tells me FLOSS developers are trying to create the best 
products possible.

- cameron

Michael Dean wrote:
> ez publisher!  With regard to mysql, to distribute it within your 
> organization, such as on several servers, requires a commercial 
> license.  Postgresql is Apache licensing.  Many CMS or CRM packages can 
> now use postgresql but not mysql.  There are several comparison studies 
> on the web which document the differences.  In fact, at the last 
> Linuxwolrd, mysql sought the assistance of postgresql in improving.  
> Mysql is better at marketing.  My comparison was taken from cmsmatrix.org.
> Cameron Miller wrote:
>
> > Haven't tried Metadot, mainly because I think mod_perl is a pain.  The 
> > project does appear to have lots of small and large users, middle 
> > school through large U's.
> >
> > MySql is GPL licensed and freely available for download and use.  I 
> > find MySql every bit as good as Postgres for most uses, and a lot 
> > easier to set up and maintain than Postgres or Oracle.
> >
> > A lot of the features you cite as not being available in Metadot 
> > apparently are, listed both at the cmsmatrix site and the Metadot 
> > feature page. 
> > What is your suggestion for a CMS/portal doing all of the things you 
> > state Metadot lacks?
> >
> > - cameron
> >
> > Michael Dean wrote:
> >
> > > if one wants to compare CMS/portals go to cmsmatrix.org.  I have some 
> > > problems with metadot, which I have looked at in detail for smaller 
> > > schools.  First, it is written in perl, which when it scales is very 
> > > slow.  Second, you need mysql or oracle to run it.  Fine for big 
> > > universities, who usually have Oracle, but if you want an open source 
> > > solution in your middleware as well as user applications not so 
> > > fine.  Mysql also costs money, and is not a comparable (not as good) 
> > > database to either Oracle or postgresql.  second, it does not provide 
> > > an audit trail, no content approval, requires use of LDAP for 
> > > authentication, admin is not notified of problems, does not run under 
> > > SSL, has no commercial certification or documentation, no online 
> > > help, does not provide a structure for third party developer add-ins, 
> > > no drag and drop content, no undo, no advanced caching, no database 
> > > replication, no content staging, no affiliate tracking, no deployment 
> > > as a package, no way to trash old content, no web statistics, no web 
> > > based translation management, no workflow engine, no ftp support 
> > > (even scp), is not WAI compliant, no webdav support, not xhtml 
> > > compliant, no cgi support, no interface localization, not metadata 
> > > support, is not multi-lingual, or wiki aware.  no chat, no 
> > > classifieds.  No contact management,  no data entry, no database 
> > > reports, no groupware, no guest book, no bug reporting/help desk, no 
> > > HTTP proxy, no surveys, no tests/quizzes.  The keyword here is NO!
> > >
> > > One of schoolforge's affiliates was totally trashed last weekend by a 
> > > porn marketeer who placed 2500 links to porn sites in the comments 
> > > section of every artricle about school software.  This is why content 
> > > approval and moderation is so important in your software, especially 
> > > in grade schools.  Also, one would want to audit who does what on 
> > > your site, because trashing your site with porn in the US is a felony.
> > > Daniel Guermeur wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hello all,
> > > >
> > > > Just to announce that Metadot Portal Server software has a new 
> > > > university user: MIT.
> > > > Metadot is used by numerous schools and university including 
> > > > Berkeley, Pace and many orders for their intranet, extranet or 
> > > > organization websites. Metadot provides content management, 
> > > > collaboration and portal (like My Yahoo) functionality. The key 
> > > > differentiator is the extreme ease of use so that non technical 
> > > > users can manage the content without asking their busy IT person to 
> > > > help.
> > > >
> > > > See live sites at:
> > > > http://www.metadot.com/index.pl?id=2528
> > > >
> > > > Daniel
> > > > --
> > > > Daniel Guermeur - daniel@metadot.com
> > > > www.metadot.com - Be Part Of The Open Source Revolution