Martin Moss wrote:
I just had a demo of the Zend Platform and framework
for php.
It's got some really nice stuff, but ultimately the
reason we may decide to ditch perl and move to php
(hmmmm I know booo) will be down to support. OR
lackthereof for Perl...
So my question is, given I'm not a php fan, Is there
an equivalent PERL based commercial entity who will
provide support for a medium sized web outfit?
My experience over the past 8 years as a very small web outfit with
support that comes with a commercial product vs. support that comes with
an open and free product is that the free product support meets or beats
the commercial support hands down.
The commercial entities whose committment to their customers equals
those of open-source developers are the exception rather than the rule.
(And, unfortunately, those have a disturbing tendency to be bought by
less customer conscious entities, e.g. VeriSign Payment Services being
bought by PayPal, since the new boss cuts costs by cutting the support
staff.) None surpass solid open-source communities.
Plus, the key contributors to the mod_perl community are some of the
best in terms of engineering expertise, willingness to help, and
incredible patience and respect for others. Some other communities are a
bit harsh on folks who don't follow the proper form, e.g. qmail, but the
expertise and helpfulness of even these amazes me. Especially after
sitting on a phone call for 57 minutes with a very polite but completely
unknowledgeable PayPal support person on a problem that would have taken
the old VPS people 10 minutes to fix. Oh yeah, and the problem wasn't
even fixed.
Of course, open source folk won't be your "hands," but they will be your
brains. If it's "hands" you need to do that actual work, you'll have to
pay for that by hiring one capable engineering or hiring a capable
consultant.
Take care,
Kurt
--
Kurt Hansen
CharityWeb
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
866 4eTools (866 438-6657)
"Our laws set us free." - Anon
