To begin with, I love the free flow and sharing of ideas, that Open Source Projects offer us Internet Citizens, and all around Cheapskates, of which I am a chartered member of. However, I wonder, just how free is free?

I ask as I have been trying to sort out what program to use for a new project. Either a CMS like Joomla or Drupal, or perhaps even Wordpress to do the job. Then there is Zen Cart which would also be suitable, I think. However here is my bitch, rant, or moan. Whatever you want to call it.

Instructions & Program Abilities.

Why does every single program tell us we can start using them ‘right out of the box‘ then proceed to rename every function so only a blooming scientist can decipher? Like Templates in Joomla makes sense, but in Wordpress they are themes, and somehow Joomla has them hidden while Drupal calls them Styles but easy to find. Zen Cart labels them as templates as well, but here is the rub for them.  NO INSTRUCTIONS.

Zen Cart™ truly is the art of e-commerce; free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart software. The ecommerce web site design program is being developed by group of like-minded shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants that think ecommerce web design could be and should be done differently. (from Zen Cart)

And what inspired this little rant?

In looking at Zen Cart, the help section is totally confusing. Despite their claim that anyone can be up and running in minutes, that is total hogwash. Unless of course you are a blooming code genius, which I doubt most of us common folk are. I sure am not. And really what has me pissed is the push for the book they offer. The 390 plus page book that weighs 2 pounds.

Like I give a damn how much the book weighs?

And it is a step by step guide on how to use all of the wonderful features of Zen Cart, which is nice, handy, and maybe even necessary. SO HOW COME I GOTTA PAY $30 FOR IT?

While both Drupal & Joomla offer books as well, at least they have full instructions on the web site for blonds like me, but does Zen Cart?  Yes & No. I mean I went looking for how to add a new theme to my copy of Zen, and I am still looking for instructions. Oh, there are some on how to adjust this sidebar, that sidebar, but not how to upload and install a theme, template, (again with the blasted different words for one thing) in simple language. And let me say, IT IS NOT SIMPLE!

I figured it out, by looking at some readme files with custom themes/templates and then guessed at some, and hey it worked, but that is from being in this stupid business for over ten years. If I was a newbie, just starting out, NO BLOODY WAY!

So are Open Source programs like Joomla, Drupal, Zen Cart free?   NOT IN MY BOOK.

It just seems wrong to me, to push something as Open Source, Easy to Use, when yes, true but only if you are Code Jockey or good at understanding technical jargon. I am not, never have been, doubt I ever will be, and I don’t think I am special. I think others have this issue too, which may also explain a lot of the low quality sites we see.

Things are made too complicated, not just in what they do, but in how we are expected to use them, and understand them.

Posted on March 24th, 2008 by No Bull
Filed under: Software