On dit quoi?

This is very easy, but ...

There still is my original blog, powered by Movable Type. After much consideration and hesitation, I’ve decided to scrap all my customized templates and start all over again with Movable Type Open Source 4.1.

Why the hell would I go a do a thing like that, you might ask?  Well, things change and technologies like content management systems are definitely one of those things - for better or for worse. Sure, I was pissed off for a really long time, particularly since we’ve been here before with the transition between versions 2 and 3. Also, the lack of support for plugins developed for version 3 REALLY pissed me off - and I’m not even a plugin developer. I could just imagine their frustration. For many, I’m sure this latest version looked a lot like The Ultimate Middle Finger Movement.

But here we are. What I think want to believe about Six Apart is this: they’re in it to innovate blogging for all of us, whether you manage a corporate blog with the Enterprise version or hack the Open Source version until your heart’s content - or anything in between. I’m sure that significant changes had to be made to this codebase to maximize the realm of possibilities. We’re talking about the same codebase that not only let non-techies suddenly publish their own blogs, but we’re talking about the same codebase that let those blogs become their own viable online communities with features like comment registration and trackbacks - all while insuring the safety of commenters’ identities and authors’ LAMP-powered webspaces. And then to incorporate the changes within Linux and Apache and MySQL and Perl themselves. And along the way, I’m sure, the discovery of better ways of doing things. That’s a lot of change to manage for what was (for the most part) a free product.

(Or maybe that’s just what I keep telling myself …)

Anyway, here we are - using Tumblr to blog about Movable Type. Apples and oranges? Maybe, maybe not. Although both are quite usable out-of-the-box, both imply a certain level of customization for advanced users/bloggers/designers/developers. In terms of user experience, Six Apart could really learn a thing or three from Tumblr. And Tumblr doesn’t see itself as a replacement for a more fully-featured CMS like Movable Type, but still the ease of use is remarkable. Although Tumblr doesn’t see itself as a replacement, it very will could be for thousands of bloggers who aren’t power users. Sometimes I’m one of those power users, but most of the time I’m not. For now, I’ll stick with Movable Type because of Six Apart’s dedication to making its software freely available and see where that leads me. *crosses fingers*