Drupal

For months, the Drupal community has been confusing two issues: smallcore, which I see as a lightweight Drupal kernel and Drupal's out-of-the-box capabilities as a product.

From experience with a variety of software firms, I feel that these goals may overlap slightly, but they're incompatible in the long run. And yet, both of these are important objectives for the future of Drupal.

After a long review process, a talented but unknown painter by the name of Michelangelo was awarded a huge contract to paint the Sistine Chapel for Pope Julius II.

After a few months of back and forth, the Pope and the artist had agreed on the design of the paintings for the Chapel. Now it was a matter of applying paint to the walls and the 20-meter-high ceiling, and Michelangelo chose the to enlist the help of the Volunteer Guildsmen of Drupalo.

Drupal, a leading open source content management system, is at a crossroads. The same traits that have made Drupal a strong framework are likely to create a glass ceiling for its growth and acceptance.

Drupal is the product of a devoted, closely knit developer community spearheaded by Dries Buytaert. In many ways its evolution and structure has mirrored the Linux community as led by Linus Torvalds. Its name is owned as a trademark by its founder, there’s a nonprofit foundation named after the application… the comparisons abound.