Is Mambo Commercially Viable... Yet?

[mambocreed]

Because I threw in some fairly ignorant statements in my last post that sent the entire discussion on a tangent, thought I'd rephrase:

Obviously, there seems to be a bit of a trend toward developers going "commercial" with their Mambo-related products. Most of these products arguably represent the "best in class" components available for Mambo. They're certainly wonderful components, and the developers deserve to profit from their work.

The question is: are developers jumping the gun? Is Mambo commercially viable, or are these components simply being put on the table as a way to make "side money"? Not being a developer, I can't answer these questions.

However, if the products aren't commercially viable, and the developers have faith in the project - then it would make a LOT of sense to "hold back" a bit. Mambo 5.0 will certainly "break" any components currently available.

If Mambo fails, yeah - you'd never make a dime. All your hard work would go down the drain.

But the concensus seems to be that Mambo has a bright future. And that a great number of developers will stand to profit from their involvement in the very near future.

In the last thread, someone basically related, "Hey, stop complaining and contribute."

So the complaints are gone and here's my contribution:

You're not selling code - you're selling a product. If you don't have the resources to support your product, don't sell it. That's just bad business all around.

If your component represents the "best in class" for a component that's standard fare in a competing CMS, then you might want to reconsider the commercialization - or at least offer a pared-down version for free. By not doing so, you're limiting your potential market (ie - a customer chooses a different CMS, therefore exiting your market permanently because their needs are not being met)

Never focus on short-term gain, unless that's your business model

As a commercial developer, it is in your VERY best interest to attract as many people as possible to your platform. Any short-term profit you make will most likely be exponentially reflected (negatively) in the long run. Again, every customer that chooses Mambo represents a potential customer. Every customer that chooses a competing CMS is permanently out of the game.

My best guess is that you have very little to gain right now, and a whole lot to lose. But hey - if people are already quitting their day jobs and living off their components, then I'm dead wrong. If not... I'm right.

As for my angle on all of this, I develop sites for small businesses. I charge them very little, out of which I have ZERO money to buy commercial components. And I wouldn't buy one anyway, given the current state of things. But my business is growing, and I eventually will be able (and happy) to support developers.

So I personally represent a potential purchase of a per-client license for almost EVERY component available. However, I'm very wary now that, by the time we reach 5.0, all of the developers will have jumped into the commercial component ship - and I'll end up paying out the butt for my investment in open source. Or permanently stuck with a dated version of the CMS.

By 5.0 or 5.1, however, I could be "in the market" - and when I am, again, I'll be happy to buy buy buy. But with 4.5.2, I can't get a gallery that works, mosForms is extremely difficult to design around, the built-in SEF functionality is fairly limited (though Xaneon is making leaps and bounds)...

So you've got a Mambo "fanatic" that's currently looking for anther CMS. How many other people like me are reading the silliness on the boards, seeing Mambo getting a little too "commercial", watching people jump ship left and right with no explanation as to why...

Makes it pretty damn scary to dedicate your clients to that.

So I apologize if my RIP posting was taken the wrong way (though the title was admittedly intended to provoke response ) - but, from scanning the forums, it does look like there's a storm brewing.

Anywise, that's my contribution. And I honestly really do hope that everyone who has put so much hard work into this project pulls out way ahead in the end.

But, from the viewpoint of ye olde casual observer, it REALLY does look like an atomic bomb is about to go off. And the commercial end of things looks like it's the primary force stirring up the pot.

Best of luck.