Posts Tagged ‘content management systems’

I’m in Austin, looking to start an open source project to build a Context Management System.

Web 1.0 was the age of content, and hence the Content Management Systems (Vignette, et al). Web 2.0 is the age of context. Learning to manage context, and letting go of content, is a whole new ball of wax.

The purpose of the project is to allow ad-hoc formation of peer groups for small and large scale projects. In a real sense, this is a boot-strapping project. If such a thing existed, I’d be using it right now to create this project — but of course, this project would then be unnecessary, and I would be able to focus my attention on other issues of interest, like: adult developmental stages, emergence, cultural transformation, etc.

People in Silicon Valley just advertise that they are having a coding party. People in Central Texas barely grok del.icio.us. How can we best close the gap?

I’m in Austin, looking to start an open source project to build a Context Management System.

Web 1.0 was the age of content, and hence the Content Management Systems (Vignette, et al). Web 2.0 is the age of context. Learning to manage context, and letting go of content, is a whole new ball of wax.

The purpose of the project is to allow ad-hoc formation of peer groups for small and large scale projects. In a real sense, this is a boot-strapping project. If such a thing existed, I’d be using it right now to create this project — but of course, this project would then be unnecessary, and I would be able to focus my attention on other issues of interest, like: adult developmental stages, emergence, cultural transformation, etc.

People in Silicon Valley just advertise that they are having a coding party. People in Central Texas barely grok del.icio.us. How can we best close the gap?

Is open source the right option for your online training, teaching, or learning efforts? This articles compares the difference between open source and proprietary software. Open source software has become mainstream. Applications such as the Firefox Web browser and Linux operating system are available to aid in all areas of operation, including teaching and learning. Open source software has become a strong contender in online training and e-learning sectors. As technology continues to evolve, more open source offerings will continue to emerge in the area of e-learning, continuously changing the landscape of online teaching and learning both in academia and business fields.

Open source software has grown to include:

1. Learning management systems (LMS)
2. Learning content management systems (LCMS)
3. Course authoring tools
4. Tools to create media elements such as animations, audio, and video
5. Browsers and players to present content
6. Courseware libraries

These resources has some important benefits:

1. Open source software is free to download therefore lower in cost.
2. Flexibility and customizability
3. Extensive active builder and user communities that forms a good technical support base.
4. Many open source applications run on multiple platforms including Windows and Linux.
5. Adherence to established standards, which is a high priority for open source software development.
6. Ability to use and link to other open source software

Most proprietary software comes without the source code, which is the code originally written by the programmer. Without this code you do not have right to change the way the software is developed. When you buy proprietary software you are essentially buying the right to use the software in a specific way, and in many cases the company that developed it owns the software, and you just purchase rights to use it.

The main difference between commercial support for proprietary software and commercial support for open source software is that the proprietary software is obligatory and the open source software is optional. If you opt out of paying for support for proprietary software, you lose the right to use it in most cases. The costs incidentally tend to be quite high for proprietary software.

Perceived advantages of proprietary software include:

1) Reliable, professional support and training available;
2) Packaged, comprehensive, modular formats; and
3) Regularly and easily updated.

The downside however is that it is:

1) Costly, and
2) has closed standards that hinder further development.

Open sources software has the advantage of:

1) Low cost and no license fees;
2) Open standards that facilitate integration with other systems; and
3) it is easily customizable.

The down side is:

1) Lack of professional support;
2) Evolving developer communities;
3) Lack of release co-ordination; and
4) Erratic updates. However, with such a large development and user-base, many discussion forums and help sites are available for users.

So what is the right solution for you and your organization? Generally, for smaller organizations and projects, Open source solutions seem to suffice. The difference in cost more than makes up for the perceived disadvantages mentioned above. Larger organizations seem to require more robust, high-quality product with high levels of service and support. They want responsibility, reliable assistance, and support from their suppliers.

With rapid developments in technology, chances are you can find tools to meet your training needs in either the open source or commercial sector. But open source provides unique advantages which include filling the low-cost high-control niche that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve through commercial, proprietary avenues.

Author: Sophia Peters
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Beading Necklace

Publishing documents on the World Wide Web can seem daunting for the self proclaimed ludites out there. Let’s face it HTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript to name just a few of the technologies that you would need to be familiar with in order to develop a truly professional looking website for yourself or your business. Fortunately there is a solution to the problem, it is called a content management system and it is an easier way for just about anyone willing to learn to publish to the Internet.

Some of these content management systems have stemmed from the need of publishing data to the web. CNet for example created one of their own in house content management systems which they later spun off into a separate company called Vignette. Since publishing to the web began to take off in 1995 the development of these systems has really begun to progress. However my focus will be only on open source versions of the web content management systems.

The first open source system that I want to mention is called DotNetNuke (http://www.dotnetnuke.com) which is a AsP.Net based system. By far one of the more popular open source projects out there today DotNetNuke has an avid following of hundreds of thousands of users. The benefits of using this system is the rapid updates to the platform and the intense support you will receive from it community. These are two very important factors when considering an open source system, the level of updates and the support you will receive from its creators or users of the platform. Further the innovations that are built into this system make it one powerful application by any measure. For instance the skinning mechanism is by far one of the easiest to modify and customize and the scheduling processor reduces some of the more mundane tasks of maintaining any website.

However DotNetNuke does not come without any drawbacks. Since this system was developed in ASP.Net this means that you will need at least Visual Studio 2003 Professional or greater in order to truly modify the source and customize the system as you see fit. This can be a serious drawback as the cost of this development platform can run into the hundreds of dollars.

The second open source system that I have some experience in using is called AXCMS.Net (http://www.axcms.net) which is again built upon the .Net platform. This system is as feature rich as other open source systems such as DotNetNuke. However, this system has some definite drawbacks. First is its somewhat difficult setup and deployment problems that can seriously hinder any project. Also, there does not seem to be as an avid user base as DotNetNuke. However the system is as “solid” as they get and you will definitely be rewarded by your efforts once you have the system fully setup and ready to use. Also since this system is really a neat way to get introduced to the development team any updates or customizations you may need will be for a fee from the creators of the system. This really hinders the community support of the system and makes adoption that much harder.

There are many other open source systems out there with some more being developed as I write this article. The main factors when adopting any open source content management systems you should consider are: how well is this system supported by the community and how often is this system updated by its core development team. Even an open source system can have some hidden cost that must be considered before adoption into any business or enterprise.

Author: Richard Callaby
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV