I mainly agree with the article but I think the first point is a little crazy:

They’re not open source, meaning you have to pay for the scripts themselves and they have less developers working on them, so fewer updates, few possibilities to expand.

To think that all software should be open source or if not it poses a problem is silly. That would be like saying Infusionsoft should be free, our authentication and integration modules should be free, we should not make any money for the work put into them. I love open source software but it is definitely not the first thing I look for in a solution. Many of these programmers in foreign countries are already working for $10 per hour and our own people are not getting any work at all. Open source is wonderful for those who wish to contribute and learn, but I don't mind paying for a good product or service. We need to remember that approximately 90%+ of the websites out there don't generate any revenue so they have no money to spend, they are not business or not good ones and cannot afford to buy any software. Infusionsoft clients have made a serious investment in their business and getting something for free verses paying $40 or $100 for a good quality product...to me that almost sounds free.

As you understood it, I would agree with you.

I do think, however, that what they meant is that - in view of the quality of Wordpress, the advances it has made and, in many respects, its recognized pioneering role in the world of CMS - paying for a lesser product doesn't make sense.

In that sense, I would agree with the author.

But nothing is automatic. I would rather pay for MS Office than have to use Open Office, no matter how good they want me to think it is.

So, where Open Source has the upper hand, I go that way and where it doesn't, I don't.

For your clients, Wordpress can be the best there is but, if you, as their consultant/integrator, aren't familiar with Wordpress, the outcome is predictable, as would apply to any other product. ("You" is meant generically, not personally).

As to Infusion "for free", that would be a welcome development, but it does raise the point about not only whether software should cost but how much it should cost. Personally, I use vTiger, which is perhaps not as user friendly as Infusion, but the open nature of the software lets me do things with it that will probably never be possible with Infusion. But that's for me. I don't think that it would be reasonable to expect everyone to tweak and program their CRM. As such, Infusion fills a void as one of the few with a complete, ready-made solution. It has its issues, but so do the others and many are worse.

Still, it's very expensive and it's not quite in the budget range of smaller companies, the ones that, perhaps, would need it most. One thing seems certain to me - and I've seen it happen enough times - is that if the price stays too high, too long, others will come and (try to) do better for less. Corrections always come. Either from within or they are forced upon oneself.

I'm one of those programmers living in a foreign country, though I wish I could get by on $10 an hour in Costa Rica. I am also "one of your own people", same passport, same president, US Army vet, etc. I mention this to point out how different the world is than some years ago. You and I will never really find out if Infusion is entirely programmed in the US - or DNN for that matter.

When you refer to the $10/hour, however, I'm afraid you may have fallen prey to what some politicians actually want you to believe.

At least half the world, if not more, has always been cheaper to produce than the US. So why the crisis now? It's not the $10/hour people who caused it. It's the $100 million per year people who were busier working the balance sheets to improve their bonuses than looking out after the interests of their companies. The $10/hour may have helped slow down/lengthen the process of implosion, but they neither caused it nor could save us from it.

In any case, I hope I don't have to move back to Arlington, VA, to get work... In the former Soviet Union (or Cuba today), everyone was guaranteed a job. I hear that if we give Obama enough time, this may become a reality for us as well... Uf...

Good points Bob, most of the world was always cheaper than us to produce products but it more recent that the technology services has also become good enough to be competitive in quality and results. And you are right, it is very hard to figure out where all products are made. I don't think anyone should pay high wages just to stay in their home country as this may make them non-competitive. Hopefully we will seek a middle ground where everyone can work yet get paid adequately for their task in order to live healthy.

Live healthy?

My goal is utter decadence...

Interesting thoughts on membership sites and CMS's.

If you haven't already, you should check out The SXSW CMS Showdown which used an identical spec and built sites in Joomla, Wordpress and Drupal.
http://www.cmsshowdown.com/

Although the three sites ended up looking virtually identical, an interesting analysis pointed to:

True, the WordPress team created a great looking and highly functional site, but at what cost? The team obviously took the challenge seriously, using up 90% of the allotted time and creating nearly two thousand line of custom code.

Compare that to Drupal and Joomla! who did the job with basically unmodified systems and in less time. Though all three turned in credible results, I think Joomla! won this competition on the numbers.
But anyway, the question was about membership functionality, not web platforms

I've gone through the results in the links you provided. To say the least, it doesn't sem very credible.

My thoughts are running in the direction of a poll commissioned by a politcal party, where those polled were predominantly from that party.

Without questioning the intentions, integrity or agenda of those who organized the showdown, I think that the results are so lopsided as to raise questions about the whole thing.

As a recovering former Joomla victim, I know that the published results stand in stark contrast to reality (referring only to Wordpress vs. Joomla).

credible...?

The creator of Wordpress, Matt Mullenweg, was on the wordpress team... I can't think of more credible that that:
http://www.cmsshowdown.com/competition

I don't get your point.

I can set up a showdown right now.

Depending on the criteria, I can assure you of the results well before anyone has even begun work on it.

To make it simpler to understand:

Go to England and ask 100 English citizens which language they find easiest.

Now go to Spain and ask 100 Spaniards the same question.

Either way, it wouldn't matter if Shakespeare was asking the question nor being polled.

Recently, in the US (can't remember the city), a promotion test was nullified because the test itself was deemed to inherently favor certain groups of people over others.

Hmmmm.... Do you follow me know?

I won't go as far as saying that anything was manipulated but the person(s) setting up a test (or showndown) are always (more or less) biased. That bias will always reflect somewhere.

In any case, reality stands in the way of those results.

Lets be realistic here, the best system is the one you like best!

The republicans think they are right, the democrats think they are right... same goes with religions...

Frankly their are some of the brightest and most talented minds utilizing each of the CMS programs out there and there are very robust platforms being served up by many different sized companies on all the platforms. One guy says they had a bad experience and the next says they love it...

The fact of the matter is; Does it do what you need cleanly, effectively, efficiently and for a good value proposition in comparison to the alternatives. If you are a Coldfusion programmer .NET or php may not be good choices. If you want to learn how to customize the code learning php could be easier than lets say Pearl... If you have the support of a certified microsoft IT department or friend you might gravitate towards certain products where you can find assistance more readily.

There is no one solution that is best for everyone. I use DNN and I think it is fantastic, never a problem and always a snap in mod to fill a need I have. I realize that someone else may feel differently but feel the same about Wordpress. Does not make us both wrong and to the contrary makes us both right for our individual situations.

If there were one ideal solution for everyone we would all be chasing the same partner, but instead we all find someone suited to us. Diversification is good and is what evolves the human species and the potential solutions in the IT arena. Even if you are not an Apple user I can guarantee their existence has made all options available better than they would have been. Think how bad it could have been in an MS operating system if they had no reason to improve and expand!

I was missing you in this thread.

Felt lonely all of a sudden...