Bitweaver Open Source CMS Released

July 18, 2005 - 4:54am

"Your Custom Code + Pristine Source = bitweaver! - A modular web framework and content management system with power, flexibility, and simplicity." - From Bitweaver.org

Just once, I want to see a Content Management System bill itself as being "weak, brittle, and byzantine". I'd give that CMS super-props for honesty. Power, flexibility, and simplicity is, for the CMS world, much like Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, and Easter Bunny respectively. At some point you grow up and realize they never existed, and everything you've been told by the CMS's website was a big lie.

Okay, but in all seriousness, Bitweaver does features which perked up my ears:

  • Written in PHP -- like every other CMS worth a damn that doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars.
  • ADOdb A very flexible and fast database Abstraction Layer, the same abstraction layer as Mambo  (Drupal uses its own slow, rigid, and stupid abstraction layer...)
  • SmartyTemplates  this feature just made me decide that I want to test in an install of this platform today, nuf said about smarty templates.
  • Fully tableless, and XHTML 1.0 Strict Complaincy, unlike a certain overrated CMS ::cough MAMBO ::

Good start, of course the second I clicked on the demo site, the first thing I saw as:

Warning: pg_connect(): Unable to connect to PostgreSQL server: FATAL: database "bitdemo" does not exist...

Ouch! However, I'm reserving full judgement until I get a chance to play with this new CMS myself. All and all, this CMS appears to have a few clear advantages over both Mambo and Drupal. However, as to whether or not appearences deceive is a whole 'nother story.