Private Reply to GiGi Gaggero

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You are a busy guy (girl?) today gg.

Open source programs vary considerably in quality.
If you are considering using one, check their forums to see what kind of problems are encountered and what kind of support is offered.

My DCP site is done in CRELoaded which is open source.
CRE has a huge following and most questions are answered quickly.

I have a list of open source programs that I have personally used on my "Mostly Open Source" page.

Reg
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Ron said:
Misconceptions:
Open source is just that. It is not free as in beer eg MS Internet Explorere, and in fact some open source solutions and support options can be more expensive than proprietary software. The key is freedom, not necessarily free as in price, although the concepts can be closely related and huge misunderstandings are common.
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FreeAsInBeer

Ron, I have to disagree with you on this one.
The definition of "Open Source" as given in the link you provided is:
OpenSource is a style of software licensing and distribution, related to FreeSoftware (see also FreeSoftwareVsOpenSource).
The consumer of an open source program has the rights to do the following things to the source code:

• read it
• use it
• modify it
• distribute it
• charge money for services related to it, such as copying or support, so long as they do not infringe on the freedoms of others

If you have the right to use the software without paying for it, then it is free.

As to the support options, I double dawg dare you to show me an example
.
A while ago a new client needed a shopping solution for his business when his promised system turned into 'vaporware'.
I spent a large amount of time to find something that would:
A.) Fit his not inconsiderable budget.
B.) Comply to his, also considerable, requirements.

Commercial solutions were found that met all but A.
An initial investment of $20,000 was about the minimum, and annual licensing drove this even higher.
Support was limited to the supplier's service and after a varying initial period was also added to the costs.

An open source solution was found that, with custom modifications to satisfy B, would run about $6000.
Once the system was modified, support could be supplied by any PHP/MySQL coder at a fraction of the cost of the proprietary systems. 

 

Reg
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Sue said;
The important when it all comes down to brass and taxes is the question, did you do everything possible to make your client happy to the best of your ability? If the answer to that question is yes then you have done a fantastic job and exactly what your customer wanted - that is what owning a business is all about; to make your client be the most satisfied when the project is finished.

This is almost right.
Sometimes you have to do more than the customer wanted, if what they want will not achieve the desired results.
Remember that there are things you know, things you know you don't know, and things you don't know you don't know.

Too many times businesses just take your money and don't bother to warn or tell you about the last.

GG said;

But "source code" and all that stuff... gezzzzzzz? I don't have a clue that that means let alone touching it!

This, for the most part, is not rocket science. Dang, none of it is.
If you can figure out how to follow a recipe you can come to terms with the basics of code in a fairly short time.
"Source" just means the way your browser. or the search engines look at the webpage.
Source is just straight text with little instructions to tell the browser how to display the page.
For HTML the instructions are put inside "Tags". When you look at the page's source code, the tags are inside < and > brackets. Each tag is in pairs with opening and closing tags.

PHP is similar but more complex as the browser does more work to build a page.

If the program or system you are using is a good one, you will never need to look at the source, but it does help to have a, (very) basic understanding if you want to put some "pizzazz" into your communications.

The Ryze forums use a text window that you use to type your message.
A link written in here shows as text only when the post is viewed.

Now look at my link below. You can click on the Commercial Web Design and Webmaster's Resource
This means the search engines like it more, and posts actually generate more page rank for your site. It is also easier for readers to click on something than to 1 - highlight, 2 - copy, and 3 - paste, then 4 - hit go or enter. Never put your visitors more than 3 clicks away rule, remember?

Type your post in your web design program, switch to code view, copy and paste into the Ryze box and Bob's yer Uncle.
If you have a reasonable web design program you also get a spell checker. (momething i really sneed as i ma lousy typist.)

Reg
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Private Reply to Reg Charie

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Hi,

I should have been less "techno" when I responded to GG.

A good open source content management need not be complex to use.
CRELoaded is a good example.
All you have to know is how to read and type.
All new product and page info is done in straight text.
No knowledge of code is needed.

Reg
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