Most of the content management systems I’m going to go over are open source. I’ll include some specific examples of when closed source may be a better option, but for most websites, due to the cost and the network effect, open source will be a better choice. The following is a definition I’ve obtained from Wikipedia.

“Open source software (OSS) is computer software for which the source
code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders
are provided under a software license that meets the Open Source
Definition or that is in the public domain. This permits users to use,
change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or
unmodified forms. It is very often developed in a public, collaborative
manner. Open source software is the most prominent example of open
source development and often compared to user-generated content.”

The internet and web technologies change rapidly and you don’t want to be left in the dust. With an open platform, developers in the open source community make new capabilities available as they become popular through plug-ins or modules. When this happens, you don’t have to hire expensive resources to add these new capabilities.

We’ve found that using an open source CMS platforms are faster to deploy, more stable, have more features, and cost 1/10 as much as proprietary CMS options.

The next part of this book contains details on popular content management systems you can build your website on.  I’m mostly going to discuss pros and cons and introduce you to the what and where.  After this section I’ll go into more detail on how to maximize your budget and build the best website you can with the content management system (or custom web application if you decide to go that route).  For now, you’ve got an idea of what you want to do, a list of features, now it’s time to match up those goals with some technology.

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