[DUG-TO] Topic: Drupal & Money

[Evan Leibovitch]

2009/11/10 Robert Fabian <robert at fabian.ca>


> It seems clear that there is considerable interest in the topic. I suggest
> that those interested in being on the panel provide a brief description of
> their point of view and include a very brief bio, e.g.
>
> Bob Fabian - 40+ years of experience in IT, as consultant, manager, and
> academic. Early supporter of the commercial use of the Internet. Used Drupal
> for several non-profit organizations.
>
> Perspective: Drupal really ought to concentrate on being a developer's
> platform. The developer community can and should sustain the platform. Money
> gets made by exploiting the platform strengths to meet the limited needs of
> a broad market (product orientation) or the unique needs of a narrow market
> (custom development). It's the wrapper around the platform that makes the
> money.
>
> I would invite others to put their name forward as candidate members of the
> panel.
>

OK. Here's mine. Probably not very popular but I consider it a legitimate
POV.

Evan Leibovitch - Co-founder of the Canadian Association for Open Source,
the Linux Professional Institute, the Linux Standard Base and the 86open
project. Started one of Canada's first and most successful Linux-centric
VARs. Led a 22-member delegation to WSIS in Geneva in 2003 to promote open
source. Currently chairs the ICANN At-Large North America Advisory Council.
Widely interviewed and quoted in news media regarding corporate adoption of
open source. Used Drupal in multiple for-profit, academic and non-profit
installations. Helped modify the Drupal e-commerce system to work with
InternetSecure.

Perspective: IMO, profit opportunities in custom Drupal "development" -- as
in PHP custom code creation -- will peak soon if they haven't already. The
best future opportunities in Drupal professional work are in non-developer
services such as theme design, selection/ configuration/ maintenance of
existing complex modules (ie, views/og/ecommerce), integration with other
systems (ie, CRM, Facebook), SEO as well as content-related services such as
copy editing, publication workflow and author management. Also, the Drupal
Association needs a bottom-up overhaul; in its current state it hurts
corporate Drupal adoption when it should be helping.

- Evan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openject.com/pipermail/dug-to/attachments/20091110/25dbc7c6/attachment.htm>