Typical “Open” Drupal versus Alternatives: Acquia and Google Sites

Generally speaking, if you stick with popular modules that have lots of users, there’s probably less risk of issues happening. But this is one of the issues with content management systems and the open source community that goes with the territory—it’s a community, and any community has good and bad things about it. The good thing about open source is that it’s free, and it’s a volunteer effort. You’re not paying for the software; instead of Microsoft employing people to do all the coding and come up with modules and whatever, it’s a volunteer effort.

Is a commercial content management system safer and less prone to have issues? Possibly, but any effort that includes coding has the potential for unforeseen issues. Ever use Windows and have to download regular security updates for the software? It happens with commercial software, too.

One attempt to give the best of both worlds is Acquia, a company created by Dries Buytaert and others (Dries created Drupal). Acquia provides a managed version of Drupal, so there’s a cost to it, but it can reduce some of the issues required for maintaining Drupal on an ongoing basis.

Here is some basic information from the Acquia site:

My general recommendation, depending on your level of interest in learning about the technical side of Drupal, is that Acquia is worth investigating. I think that going through the process of creating a website using a hosting account and pushbutton installer as described in this book is worth the effort. And I think it’s also worth the effort to become familiar with the kinds of things you do as part of administering Drupal on your own. It’s doable, and lots of people have done it, including beginners.

And as you’re going through things, if the tasks of upgrading and managing Drupal seem like an opportunity, it might be worth learning how to do it all on your own. But if these tasks start to feel like a hassle, or you realize that you could do them, but you’re looking for a way to be involved with creating Drupal sites with less hassle, and you’re willing to pay for it, Acquia might be an option for some sites.

I’d recommend exploring and developing a site on your own, and also trying Acquia, especially if you think you might be interested in earning income from doing sites for other people.

And then if you’re on the beginning side of beginning, I also want to encourage you to keep Google Sites in mind. Part of the literal reason I turn to Google Sites myself sometimes is because of the fact that there are a number of things you don’t have to do at all: upgrading security, upgrading Google sites, etc. It’s a free product, and it has some of the benefits of open source software, but there’s not some of the issues with open source. The earlier chapters discuss Google Sites more, but basically it can be a good starting point. When you reach the point where you need more customization than Google Sites provides, especially if you are a business or a non-profit organization, and you have the resources to pay someone, then Drupal might be the right way to go. Also, if you’re a non-profit, check out Drupal Commons on Acquia.