Articles

News about Open Source

<hr /> If there’s a song lyric that captures the ethos of Switzerland, this one comes to mind from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozl3L9fhKtE">Fleetwood Mac</a>: “You can go your own way…”This classic was spinning on turntables and jukeboxes in the mid-1970s, but the Swiss have been rockin’ to the beat of their own drum for over 500 years – back when the country first established its venerated stance on neutrality. With a rich history of non-conformist geopolitical leanings, it’s not surprising that Switzerland is embracing open source software (OSS) with greater purpose and intention, while much of the West remains hesitant – particularly in government circles. Just how serious are the Swiss about OSS? Last year, the country passed what it calls the <a target="_blank" href="https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/open-source-observatory-osor/news/new-open-source-law-switzerland">Federal Law on the Use of Electronic Means for the Fulfillment of Government Tasks</a> (EMBAG for short), a law requiring public sector entities to provide their software as open source. This applies to any code or applications they’ve developed (or had developed by a third party) provided it doesn’t compromise any rights or create security issues. While many of the tenets are still being implemented, the Swiss government and its contractors must release their software code under an OSS license, promising an entirely new level of transparency around government practices. A year after the law’s final adoption, EMBAG continues to challenge existing perceptions of OSS across the EU, and might just be the model for the future. That may sound wildly ambitious to some – foolhardy to others – but it also makes perfect sense. Like the Swiss, OSS is steeped in a deep legacy of democratic and social idealism, embodying the spirit of freedom and community.But in a world where trust can be easily exploited, is it a good idea for government agencies to be so open about their software?I recently caught up with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathias-bolt-lesniak/">Mathias Bolt Lesniak</a>, an open source evangelist at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.toujou.com/">toujou</a> (a SaaS website building platform based in Norway) and Project Ambassador at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/typo3-association/">TYPO3 Association</a>. We’ve spoken previously about his involvement with the <a target="_blank" href="https://typo3.org/project/press/press-releases/open-website-alliance/english">Open Web Alliance</a>, a cabal of the world’s leading open source CMSs – <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/joomla">Joomla</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/TYPO3">TYPO3</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a> – which assembled in the wake of the <a target="_blank" href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/cyber-resilience-act">EU’s Cyber Resilience Act</a>. The Alliance perceived this emerging policy as a threat to free and open source software like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management systems</a>, assigning responsibility for safety and security considerations regardless of how their CMS software is being utilized or customized. Their efforts culminated in an open letter to the EU about a myriad of issues – including the financial implications – and reinforced the benefits of open source. As an expert in OSS (or “FOSS” when it's free), Mathias had some thoughts on the evolution of Switzerland’s law and what it signals about the future. While other countries in the EU are also investing in the promise of open source, governments abroad are less bullish about the prospects. WordPress, the open source CMS goliath, continues to <a target="_blank" href="https://wordpress.org/about/features/">power over 43% of all websites</a> on the planet. Despite this staggering reach, there’s much work to be done to advance OSS principles in all corners of the globe, particularly in the public sector. But EMBAG just moved the ball further down the field – and if the Swiss don't miss, it could change the game. <h3 id="the-long-road-to-open-source">The long road to open source</h3>The adoption of EMBAG was certainly a legal milestone, and more than a decade in the making. Over that period, the Swiss government was embroiled in lengthy political and legal battles. There were numerous questions about existing agreements and the weight of international law. But in the end, the Swiss government achieved cooperation, applying radical changes to its e-government practices – specifically as it relates to the free reuse of its open source code.Unlike other legislation efforts, EMBAG also breaks new ground by mandating the release of broader government data. While this precludes personal or highly secure information, its Open Government Data (OGD) model goes beyond transparency – easing the friction around reusing data for other applications and encouraging greater innovation and collaboration between government agencies. <h3 id="an-alignment-of-democratic-ideals">An alignment of democratic ideals</h3>I asked Mathias about the promises and pitfalls of EMBAG, and where the potential of success – or failure – might exist. He had some strong observations on the role of governance in the equation, and how that could influence the overall trajectory. “My primary reaction, of course, is that this is great,” he said “I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of it, because this is a project that can go really well, or it can go not so well. I think it depends on the governance aspect of how it's actually implemented. Switzerland, of course, is one of these places that has a really strong democratic tradition – and democracy is what I usually point to when I talk about the positive things open source can bring into countries. It's a kind of ‘learning ground’ for democratic practices. And Switzerland, of course, has had this amazing, direct democracy for hundreds of years.”As Mathias codified, one might say that the Swiss were “culturally prepared” for a shift towards OSS, making it an ideal stage for employing such a groundbreaking piece of legislation. Other countries like France have professed a predilection towards open source, but none have gone this far with their public sector standards.  <hr /> <h4 style="text-align:center" id="“democracy-is-what-i-usually-point-to-when-i-talk-about-the-positive-things-open-source-can-bring-into-countries.”">“Democracy is what I usually point to when I talk about the positive things open source can bring into countries.”</h4> <hr /> The cards might be stacked against any country willing to dive this deep with open source. According to Mathias, there are several things that might help ensure positive outcomes as Switzerland looks to successfully execute this policy.“One of the things I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing is the Swiss building expertise around open source systems, as well as their small to medium supplier market,” he observed. “Open source has this ability, because it gives people the possibility to learn and use it outside of the originally intended use case.” Mathias also sees a runway for expanding the reuse of government software by other entities within Switzerland as well as outside the country. To his point, the Swiss have long cultivated a reputation for superior products and technologies (watches come to mind). As he sees it, there may be a heightened demand for Swiss OSS that far exceeds its current charter – perhaps even a “Swiss standard” for government software. To that end, Mathias sees the adoption of EMBAG as a clear signal that Switzerland recognizes the true potential of open source, widening the aperture well beyond its peers in the EU and abroad. <h3 id="the-struggle-with-security">The struggle with security</h3>Despite the palpable pros, open source has wrestled with the central challenge of trust. And it makes sense: you open your code to the world, and the question of security naturally follows. Accountability is also a major point of friction, as any issues with code or functionality often belong to a community, which can present barriers to solving critical problems.To be fair, all software is vulnerable – and we’re seeing just how vulnerable on a daily basis. Hacks and threats are becoming commonplace, and large open source systems like WordPress provide a much larger surface area for exploits. That said, proprietary software is target-rich and bountiful for likes of ransomware. Just take a quick peek at <a target="_blank" href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/acknowledgement">Microsoft’s security update guide</a> and you’ll get a long and troubling list of vulnerabilities that have cropped up over time.No software should ever be deemed completely secure. But relative to proprietary platforms, open source can hold its own – and in some instances, might even be considered a safer bet. One example: because OSS isn’t controlled by a single vendor, anyone can monitor, locate, and remediate vulnerabilities. This can be a force multiplier for security and governance.At the end of the day, does this build enough trust for public sector agencies to open their code? Do the rewards outweigh the risks?“I think it definitely builds trust,” Mathias said. “Any country that adopts open source so fully is really a sign that its government understands all of the good stuff that you can do with it.”<h3 id="why-is-the-u.s.-less-bullish-on-open-source?">Why is the U.S. less bullish on open source?</h3>The European market teetered on the brink of recession throughout 2023. There were certainly a few bright spots, but by in large, the entire continent struggled as the U.S. boomed, losing pace in the race for AI and suffering setbacks in areas like electric vehicles. According to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/europe-regulates-its-way-to-last-place-2a03c21d">Wall Street Journal article</a> published in January, there is one field where the EU still leads the world – and that’s regulation. This has been a benefit in areas like controlling carbon emissions and advancing data privacy. But its penchant for draconian rulemaking has also stymied its economic agility when competing with China and the U.S.Of course, it’s not all about competition. There is this thing called humanity, and countries like Switzerland seem interested in policies that protect citizens and serve the public interest while promoting digital sovereignty and stoking innovation. Many would claim that doing good and driving economic growth aren’t mutually exclusive, but some EU companies are proving the opposite. <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/umbraco-publishes-annual-impact-report-reinforcing-commitments-to-sustainability-and-community">A great example in the CMS world is Umbraco</a>, which is investing deeply in sustainability and DEI strategies while activating growth (it also happens to be an open source platform).We’ve already established that open source can overcome questions about its security and stability – and based on <a target="_blank" href="https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/open-source-software-the-nine-trillion-resource-companies-take-for-granted">research from Frank Nagle</a> at the Harvard Business School, 96% of commercial programs include some form of OSS in their mix – making it absolutely critical to the global economy. Now, the Swiss are advocating open source for government at the highest level.So why has it been slow to catch on in the U.S. public sector?Well, for starters, there’s certainly support for it. Just a few years ago, the <a target="_blank" href="https://thenewstack.io/how-the-u-s-air-force-deployed-kubernetes-and-istio-on-an-f-16-in-45-days">U.S. Air Force began deploying applications</a> on F-16s utilizing a hybrid cloud strategy via Kubernetes – an open source system for pushing, scaling, and managing containerized apps. The U.S. federal government also requires agencies to release a percentage of its custom code as OSS. That said, there are no mandates like the one Switzerland has introduced – and very little incentive for public sector agencies to invest heavily in open source. I asked Mathias about this marked difference between the U.S. and Europe, and what the underlying factors might be.“I think there's a difference in tradition,” he said. “The U.S. and Europe have different ways of funding for open source projects, to be very black and white. Europe has much more of a government-centric funding model, where the public sector supports projects. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/">German Sovereign Tech Fund</a>, for example, is a government construct for capitalizing open source projects. And in the U.S., it seems that it's much more reliant on private capital. I think both of those can work as funding solutions, but governments are going to be motivated by public service to a much larger degree than private funding.”That said, the EU's well might be running dry on public funding for OSS. In July, the European Commission <a target="_blank" href="https://fossforce.com/2024/07/is-the-european-commission-dropping-support-for-important-open-source-funding/">neglected to include</a> any Next Generation Internet (NGI) programs in its budget for 2025. NGI has been fiercely committed to building a trustworthy internet by funding over a thousand open source projects through its NGI Zero Commons Fund. If this disappears, many OSS projects may come to a halt.<h3 id="opening-up-the-open-source-promise-">Opening up the open source promise </h3>While EMBAG is providing a template for other EU nations – and the world – it’s still early days. There are aspects of the policy that still need shaking out. But as Mathias observed, the news is sparking great interest around open source and its potential for continued growth.There are clear benefits for the Swiss as they embark on this journey. Aside from the foundation of greater openness and transparency, OSS eliminates inhibitors like vendor lock-in and other compromises that come with selecting proprietary software. More importantly, it drives efficiency by enabling the reuse of code and improving productivity through collaboration. As Mathias sees it, open source can provide governments with greater choice and control –  the essential ingredients for accelerating time to mission and supporting the needs of citizens and communities. Being able to share and reuse OSS code can help activate the potential. “Selecting open source doesn't have to mean you select a single model or one open source piece of software to rule them all,” he explained. “You can also create and fund a collaboration between different projects so that they can reuse the same kind of code. And I think that's an opportunity that is much more relevant when the government is participating. We share information openly, and that’s something that can benefit existing platforms and the development of new platforms for things like government ID.”Mathias is also predicting unexpected ways that open source might deliver greater impact and value.“Governments have an opportunity to support some of areas that are often forgotten, or that receive little focus from open source developers, and one of those is UX,” he said. “For example, many open source systems have been built by developers who build them in a ‘developer way.’ The first thing they think about is functionality and not UX, and governments have the possibility to fund that missing layer of making open source so usable that everyone will adopt it. If that happens, we might see open source platforms that are being compared beyond their feature sets.”We’ve had numerous discussions in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/">Boye &amp; Company CMS Experts Group</a> about Gartner’s persistent “overlooking” of open source platforms on its MQ reports. We know revenue is an obstacle (among other requirements), but there’s also a latent undercurrent of negative perception around OSS when it comes to enterprise software decisions.As the Swiss swing for the fences and once again “go their own way,” perhaps more OSS solutions will attain a new level of respect in the minds of market watchers. Of course, that shift will require a deeper understanding of the true nature of open source:It’s less about code – and more about culture.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24---sold-out"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a> - SOLD OUT</h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

The Swiss Don’t Miss on Open Source: How Switzerland's EMBAG Law is Evolving the OSS Landscape

matt-garrepy

Sowing the Seeds of Love: Umbraco's Codegarden 2025 Celebrates 20 Years of Community and Innovation

<hr /> For WordPress, it’s been a long and brutal winter. I don’t need to regurgitate why. You’re probably aware of the feud. If not, you can <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/wp-engine-wins-an-injunction-against-automattic-is-the-wordpress-scorched-earth-campaign-over">read my overview</a> of the Automattic/WP Engine drama or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/can-we-heal-the-open-sores-in-open-source-for-wordpress-karim-marucchi-has-a-prescription">listen to my recent podcast</a> with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://marucchi.com/">Karim Marucchi</a> of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/crowdfavorite/">Crowd Favorite. </a>There are chills a-plenty.The core of this battle has been a persistent lack of control and transparency. With Matt Mullenweg’s hand on the kill switch, WordPress users around the globe have been deeply concerned about the stability of their sites and apps, with many now questioning the democratized promise of this open source project. As Karim noted in our recent chat, securing the software supply chain is absolutely crucial to ensuring the future of WordPress, which powers 43% of all sites on the Internet. In his own words, it’s simply too big to fail, and the market has been yearning for answers. Like all things in tech, change is the constant variable. And there’s been a powerful will in the WordPress community to solve this problem for everyone, from the enterprise down to the mom-and-pop business on Main Street.Today, we might be on the precipice of a solution. Announced this evening during a surprise on-stage appearance at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://altctrl.org/">Alt Ctrl Org</a> in Basel, the new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://marucchi.com/introducing-the-fair-package-manager-for-wordpress/">FAIR Package Manager</a> was released to the public, which is now available at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fair.pm">https://fair.pm</a>The project – reflecting months of diligent work by roughly 200 people across a blend of participating organizations – will provide a sustainable and transparent path for a secure supply chain for WordPress, including its plugins, themes, and update infrastructure. Along with the package comes a transparent governance model to help ensure a trusted distribution network, which will answer some of the biggest challenges in the current environment.I caught up with Karim and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdevalk/">Joost de Valk</a>, the luminary behind the ubiquitous <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://yoast.com/">Yoast SEO plugin</a> and an advisor to many companies in the WordPress community, to discuss the news. The two have long been partners in helping to shape and guide the open source ecosystem, and have actively pursued solutions to the current conundrum. <h3 id="to-be-fair,-what-is-fair?">To be fair, what is FAIR?</h3>At a high level, FAIR is not just a software project – it’s a structural intervention, representing a new way to build open source software that prioritizes the community, respects governance, and aligns with current legislation and long-standing stakeholder needs.On a granular level, FAIR eliminates reliance on any single source for core updates, plugins, themes, and translations, thus enabling federation across the ecosystem from trusted sources. It marshals a fragmented topology by assembling plugins from any source – not just a centralized one – while creating a firm foundation for modern security practices.FAIR also elevates security at the supply chain level, providing improved cryptographic measures and enhanced browser compatibility checking. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:79.59%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/06/image-1749242930911.png" /></figure>Announcement of the FAIR Package Manager at Alt Ctrl Org in Basel. The announcement was made at an apropos moment during the adjacent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://europe.wordcamp.org/2025/">WordCamp EU event.</a> Representatives from the various groups involved in this project took the stage to splash the news, which is likely to make waves over the coming days and weeks. Attendees at Alt Ctrl Org have been invited to download, participate, and join in the movement as it looks to establish a directed fund at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linuxfoundation.org/">Linux Foundation</a> for supporting this project. Karim has been actively engaging with WordPress business owners in an effort to garner support. Over the last few months, he’s noted overwhelming interest from people who have heard the idea of what “could” be, well before the tangible project was released.“Wouldn’t it be nice if it did happen?” he mused, reinforcing the desire of people to sign up and support such an initiative if it materialized. “That's the beauty of these communities, right? If there's a real will of the people to want to make change, it happens.”<h3 id="solving-a-political-problem-with-code">Solving a political problem with code</h3>The palpable fear of an uncertain future has motivated this desire for change. That includes not only the businesses, but the builders and contributors working across the community and within the ranks of Automattic. As Joost noted, people have been scared about the future, treading water while the recent battle has waged. This solution is a sort of digital life ring, and it’s been fully tested and ready to deploy. He shared a bit about how it delivers without disrupting the existing systems.“From an architectural perspective, what’s cool about it is that we're solving a political problem with code,” he said. “It's a plugin, so it doesn't change WordPress itself. WordPress remains WordPress. We add a plugin on top of it, and we replace where it calls ‘home.’”Joost went on to explain how this approach is also solving for compliance challenges, enabling users to manage requests outside of WordPress.org to meet some of the challenges posed by the EU’s forthcoming <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.european-cyber-resilience-act.com/">Cyber Resilience Act</a> and mounting <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://gdpr-info.eu/issues/">GDPR issues.</a> <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="-"> </h4><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“from-an-architectural-perspective,-what’s-cool-about-it-is-that-we're-solving-a-political-problem-with-code.-it's-a-plugin,-so-it-doesn't-change-wordpress-itself.-wordpress-remains-wordpress.-we-add-a-plugin-on-top-of-it,-and-we-replace-where-it-calls-‘home.’”">“From an architectural perspective, what’s cool about it is that we're solving a political problem with code. It's a plugin, so it doesn't change WordPress itself. WordPress remains WordPress. We add a plugin on top of it, and we replace where it calls ‘home.’”</h4> Joost de Valk <hr /> “There are a lot of these fixes that could have just happened in WordPress core that we're applying to WordPress through our plugin,” he continued. “So we're augmenting WordPress, we're improving it without changing WordPress itself.”That should provide comfort to enterprises that have been seeking terra firma around larger governance and regulatory challenges at a global level. I asked Joost about the institutional guardrails. This solution is the result of people and organizations within the community versus larger entities. That brings up foundational and even philosophical questions about the project's extensibility and support, and whether we’re trading one source of consolidated control for another.“This is exactly why we're working with the Linux Foundation,” he said emphatically. “Because we didn't want to reinvent that wheel. That wheel has already been invented a couple of times over, and the Linux Foundation has been doing it well for a couple of decades. This is not Joost and Karim doing something – this is the community doing something together with us. We’re the first two spokespeople, but there are loads more. And it's not about any single person or any single company being in control of what we're doing.”Karim built on this, explaining how the Linux Foundation has done an exceptional job of creating a governance model by separating the funding from the technical decisions – and that has worked exceedingly well for many of their projects. This alignment has reinforced FAIR's solvency and ignited interest from the Linux Foundation to support it (you can <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/linux-foundation-announces-the-fair-package-manager-project-for-open-source-content-management-system-stability">read their press release</a> about the announcement here).“Even the Linux Foundation was surprised at the personal activism of the WordPress community,” Karim said. “The amount of code that's been written in the last three months wouldn't have been written in any other open source community without funding, right? WordPress is unique in that way, so they worked with us, and we've made a couple of adjustments to their model to recognize the fact that we need to balance the needs of large distribution companies with the community needs, and really try to balance that – which has been amazing.”<h3 id="the-times-they-are-a-changin’">The times they are a-changin’</h3>As Joost relayed to me, this is a “tipping point” moment – not just for WordPress but for the market and industry at large. Open source and the desire for democratization are colliding with some of the institutional trends of the last two decades, and as those monoliths are being challenged, there’s rising optimism around what it can mean for users. “There are just so many reasons why this is a good moment,” he said. “I think in many ways, we've seen ‘SaaSification’ of a lot of stuff over the last decade. And funny enough, I'm European. We're getting back from that because everybody wants to host their stuff themselves again. We want to actually own this ourselves. And I think that WordPress is, of course, in the perfect position to serve those people and actually comply with all the laws that we have in Europe.”There’s also the reality that pricing will rapidly become a key factor in the marketplace. Tools like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/shopify">Shopify</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wix">Wix</a>, which are funded and expected to deliver growth, will likely raise their fees. So many businesses are dependent on their all-in-one infrastructures, and in commerce, the margins are getting thinner. As Joost suggests, open source might become a game changer once again as enterprises and small businesses look for ways to reclaim those revenues. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="-"> </h4><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“the-thing-i'm-mostly-excited-about-is,-if-this-project-is-successful,-it-will-create-for-the-first-time-ever-in-the-history-of-the-internet,-a-content-management-system-that-is-not-reliant-on-any-one-commercial-company.”">“The thing I'm mostly excited about is, if this project is successful, it will create for the first time ever in the history of the internet, a content management system that is not reliant on any one commercial company.”</h4> Karim Marucchi <hr /> “It seems cheaper now, but they're going to raise their prices,” he said. “They are going to do that because they're all PE funded, and they all need to make money, and they need to make more money than they did last year, every year, right? And I think that combination is actually a good market for WordPress in many ways, and for every open source systems.”Karim also shared his enthusiasm for what’s ahead.“The thing I'm mostly excited about is, if this project is successful, it will create for the first time ever in the history of the internet, a content management system that is not reliant on any one commercial company,” he said, glowingly. “We will have a piece of software that is completely distributed and not reliant on any one entity. That is huge. I don't know how an AEM or a Sitecore, on-prem or in the cloud, is going to compete with a CMS that is that nimble, that configurable and composable, that you can actually say it's not open to the whims of any one company.”Without question, this is a big moment for both of these industry leaders – and the community they represent. Will the project be as successful as their ambitions? Only time will tell. We can anticipate a lot of traction as of right now, and like all software, bugs will likely emerge. But this could be the first major step in securing the software supply chain for WordPress and providing the necessary governance to make it sustainable. And maybe – just maybe – finding some peace and prosperity.   <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-wordpress?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on WordPress? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register today! </a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

All’s FAIR in Love and War: New FAIR Package Manager Aims to Bring Peace to the WordPress Ecosystem

Can we heal the ‘open sores’ in open source? For WordPress, Karim Marucchi has a prescription

<hr /> If you haven't heard, there was some legal news yesterday. Big news.I’m not talking about the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/10/nx-s1-5224170/infowars-alex-jones-the-onion-bankruptcy-judge">failed bid by satirical media site The Onion</a> to buy Alex Jones’ far-right empire, including the defrocked Infowars website. Yesterday, a bankruptcy judge squashed the deal, ruling that the auction process was unfair. No, I’m speaking of the other statutory quagmire weighing down the CMS world: the ongoing drama betwixt <a target="_blank" href="https://automattic.com/">Automattic</a>, the parent company of <a target="_blank" href="https://wordpress.com/">WordPress.com</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wp-engine">WP Engine</a> – a third-party WordPress hosting platform.Conjunction injunction, will WordPress function… for WP Engine? Despite the scorched earth ruckus that’s been playing out, it will – at least based on Tuesday’s ruling. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/10/24318350/automattic-restore-wp-engine-access-wordpress/">According to The Verge</a> (which has done yeoman’s work covering this blusterous saga), a California district judge ordered Automattic to cease blocking WP Engine’s access to <a target="_blank" href="https://wordpress.org/">WordPress.org</a>. This includes removing the <a target="_blank" href="https://wordpressenginetracker.com/">“WP Engine Tracker”</a> that Automattic deployed, listing the number of sites that have left the hosting platform since the start of the dispute – which has fallen precipitously since September 21st – and tearing down the now <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/9/24266426/the-latest-volley-in-the-wordpress-beef">infamous checkbox</a> on the WordPress login that asks users to verify they’re not affiliated with WP Engine. <img style="width:79.97%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/12/wordpress-wpengine-tracker.png" alt="" />The WordPress WP Engine Tracker, as of December 11, 2024. Image: CMS Critic Further, Automattic and its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattm/">CEO Matt Mullenweg</a> will have to relinquish their control of WP Engine’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/">Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin</a>, a popular WordPress resource that allows developers to create custom content fields for websites. In many ways, this was the hot potato in the proverbial oven, as many WP Engine customers were furious about the uncertainty surrounding its status.<h3 id="just-to-recap-the-backstory">Just to recap the backstory</h3>After the initial action from Automattic, WP Engine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/3/24261016/wordpress-wp-engine-lawsuit-automattic-matt-mullenweg">filed a lawsuit accusing</a> Automattic and Mullenweg of doing “irreparable harm” to its business, asking the court to intercede and restore WP Engine’s access to <a target="_blank" href="http://wordpress.org/">WordPress.org</a>. That court filing led to a contentious and very public campaign against WP Engine, in which Mullenweg called out WP Engine for misuse of the WordPress trademark. Perhaps in a more scathing rebuke, he also suggested the company had not been good stewards of the WordPress open source community, failing to sufficiently contribute to the platform’s ongoing innovation.For the record, I tried reaching out to multiple sources since the beginning of the drama. This includes trusted open source community members and people on the inside from both ends of the spectrum. Unfortunately, given the legal sensitivities, no one was willing to comment at the time. Now that a ruling has materialized – albeit preliminary – there might be more transparent reflection from all parties. We’ll see.Has this entire episode shaken the confidence of WordPress developers and practitioners? No doubt about it. Just read the tirade of social media comments that criticized both parties. Additionally, there’s been mounting negativity from contributors who have been vocal about their perception of the situation – a signal that things could be shifting in the future as developers assess the aftermath of this episode. The dispute has also exposed a fragile vulnerability that perhaps rivals zero-day open source security exploits, demonstrating how the human factor (vis-à-vis the politics of ego and the pursuit of profit) might present unforeseen risks to WordPress agencies, businesses, and the ocean of community developers.<h3 id="so-what-happens-next?-">So what happens next? </h3>Historians might be grappling with this chapter of web legacy for years to come. A lot depends on the fallout. There has been direct and collateral damage, to be sure – and given the visible personalities involved, we can probably expect further action. Does that mean more bellicose rhetoric? We’ll have to wait and see. From a more existential framework, I would contend that WordPress isn’t projecting the same level of gravitas it once did. To be clear, I spent a season of my career building, managing, and migrating to and from this CMS. I know it well. Maybe too well. Heck, the previous version of this blog was powered by WordPress and hosted on WP Engine and I rarely had any issues. It was stable and reliable. Sure, I had to facilitate updates and manage our custom-built plugins. But having that level of control was part of the fun, part of the magic that is website design and development. Maybe the operative question is: will WordPress continue to be a place where fresh minds and ambitious young developers flock to? Today, it still powers the largest share of websites on the open web, but is it in danger of becoming less relevant? Is a situation like this serving as a lynchpin for change – or a stark reminder that it is no longer the up-and-coming disruptor that it once was?I believe in open source. We all use it up and down the stack, from Linux to Docker. It is fundamental to how we code and create. On the CMS level, I’ve vocally advocated for the analyst community to give open source platforms the fair shake they deserve in the scope of their grids. I’ve also written about the efforts of organizations like the <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/drupal-joomla-typo3-and-wordpress-join-forces-in-new-open-website-alliance">Open Web Alliance</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-swiss-dont-miss-on-open-source-how-switzerlands-embag-law-is-evolving-the-oss-landscape">countries like Switzerland</a> that are embracing open source in meaningful ways. At the same time, users and practitioners ought to have material opportunities for generating equitable revenue by using open source software as part of their business strategy. As these platforms aired their dirty laundry on a very public stage, they've been influencing the decision-making for new and existing developers and businesses, perhaps deepening the rift and raising questions about the solvency of building in this ecosystem. Will that manifest in slowing growth? Again, the historians will love unpacking this. If you visit Automattic’s website, the first thing you’ll read is a very simple mission statement: “We are passionate about making the web a better place.” If that’s true, then maybe tearing down the oligarchical power structures is the first step. And that’s not directed towards one side of the field. There’s plenty that can be done to reinforce better standards, greater transparency, and generally “good karma” from both Automattic and WP Engine. Both parties have beneficial attributes, and both had solvent points to make in this dispute.Regardless of the outcome, we can agree that leaving builders and businesses in limbo is the least constructive way to maintain trust. Hopefully, we can leave the scorched earth behind – and focus on green fields.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-wordpress-or-wp-engine?--talk-to-us.-">Looking for guidance on WordPress or WP Engine?  <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to us. </a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaMeet industry leaders at our third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a>

WP Engine wins an injunction against Automattic. Is the WordPress 'scorched earth' campaign over?

<hr /> What does it mean to be “The Friendly CMS”?I don’t ask to be coy or sarcastic. This tagline has reached legendary status at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco</a>, permeating its messaging for years. There’s clearly something sticky about it. In the most reductive sense, one might conclude it’s a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system</a> that’s easy to use. Or, as the mantle suggests, “user-friendly.” But that’s too one-dimensional. Lots of platforms could claim user-friendliness. That’s why Umbraco has infused this tagline with more gusto, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/about-us/values/why-the-friendly-cms/">there’s an origin story</a> that sheds more light on the subject. According to mythology, “The Friendly CMS” was conceived by one of Umbraco’s community members, Hudson Maul, back in 2006 (almost two decades if we’re keeping score). He included the now-famous moniker in his mockups for a new Umbraco.com website. When asked about it, he reflected: “Everything about Umbraco is friendly. The UX, the community, and the pricing.” Simple. Elegant. Universally understood. That’s what makes it sticky.I’ve followed Umbraco for many years – they’ve certainly stood the test of time – and this idea of being friendly goes far beyond the confines of its open source .NET technology. Which, by the way, continues to be a novel arrow in its quiver.Here’s the deal: being “The Friendly CMS” has as much to do with its global spirit and fiercely passionate community as its products. From what I’ve observed, Umbraco has consistently committed to being a people company first – one that endeavors to democratize its innovation, support its builders, and make a positive impact in our world.This impact is crystallized in the company’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/umbraco-publishes-annual-impact-report-reinforcing-commitments-to-sustainability-and-community">2024 Annual Impact Report</a>, published in April. It illustrates a fervent internal and external focus on achieving measurable strides in sustainability while nurturing a culture of diversity and inclusion at a global level. It certainly helps cement the case for being “friendly” in a palpable way. But as Hudson Maul codified, their CMS is about people, too. It’s engineered with purpose and provides a clean, clear, intuitive experience that still wins hearts and minds. For all these reasons, finding the right person to lead the next chapter of Umbraco’s story is clearly vital to its future. And it seems that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mats-persson-296a66/">Mats Persson</a> is, indeed, that person.  The timing couldn’t be more apropos. Umbraco has experienced triumphant growth over the last few years. With a stellar reputation, it now counts itself among the top web CMS platforms serving the UK public sector, and among <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.g2.com/best-software-companies/emea">G2’s Top 50 EMEA Companies</a>. Perhaps more importantly, Umbraco is an open source CMS, competing in a landscape of large proprietary enterprise systems, composable DXPs, and a mele of headless platforms. As it turns out, Umbraco offers solutions that can go toe-to-toe across the market, like its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-heartcore/">Heartcore Headless CMS</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cloud/">Umbraco Cloud</a> – all connected to a wellspring of open source to provide support, innovation, and more.As Persson steps into his new role, he faces headwinds in every direction: shrinking IT budgets, shaky economic signals, and shifting buying patterns (to name a few). And of course, there’s the continued challenge of helping buyers see the forest through the composable trees and weed out confusion. Setting the negative acoustics aside, the evolving preference for open source solutions at an enterprise level could be a real game changer for Umbraco. Being open is, after all, its bread and butter. But the real key here is Umbraco’s partners, who have closed more enterprise opportunities with its products – and Persson has his sights set on the channel to amplify growth. <h3 id="a-fond-farewell-to-the-kim-years">A fond farewell to the Kim Years</h3>There’s something about a bow tie that exudes class. And <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/umbraco-cms-acquired-by-software-investor-monterro-interview-with-ceo-kim-sneum-madsen">Kim Sneum-Madsen</a>, famous for sporting this overlooked fashion accouterment, is a class act all around.As Umbraco’s previous head of state, Sneum-Madsen embodied the friendliest attributes that have defined the company’s ethos. Since 2016, he has served as Umbraco’s eponymous “Chief Friend Maker” and provided ambassadorial duties to the community at large. In 2019, he took the reins as CEO, navigating Umbraco through the unprecedented challenges of a pandemic and its subsequent digital acceleration – a tumultuous period across the tech frontier. At that time, Umbraco had just 56 employees. In the years that followed, Sneum-Madsen grew the company substantially, tripling the headcount while focusing on scalable processes and products. This included the development of Umbraco Cloud and regional hosting services situated around the globe. During his tenure, Sneum-Madsen also facilitated several key acquisitions that strengthened Umbraco’s product offerings and developed a robust partner network. The growth spurt was also fueled by a Westward drift to the larger U.S. market, supported by a beachhead in Charlotte, NC. Fear not: Kim will remain on Umbraco’s board of directors, lending his continued knowledge to a company that is imprinted with his DNA. “Umbraco has achieved consistent, strong growth over the past two years,” said Martin Henricson, Chairman of the Board at Umbraco and Managing Director at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.monterro.com/">Monterro</a> (an investment firm that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/swedish-software-growth-investor-monterro-acquires-a-majority-stake-in-umbraco/">acquired a majority stake</a> in Umbraco in 2021. “Kim believes that now is the right time to hand over the baton.”<h3 id="from-ad-tech-to-cms">From ad tech to CMS</h3>Persson will marshal thirty years of leadership experience into his new job as CEO. With a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor’s in economics, he brings a unique combination of technology and financial considerations that can generate value and create sustainable growth for both early-stage and established companies.  Persson comes to Umbraco from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cavai.com/products">Cavai</a>, where he was CEO for just over two years. An award-winning global interactive advertising cloud, Cavai works with agencies, publishers, advertisers, and other platforms across ten markets and three continents. It specializes in conversational ad tech like banners, video, and commerce solutions with a clear focus on privacy.Persson’s resume includes impressive stints in senior leadership positions at IBM and PWC, but one of his longest tenures was at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/adform/">Adform</a> – an established leader in online advertising media services. As SVP, he helped shepherd a 50% ARR and the expansion from 5 to 18 offices worldwide from 2011 to 2017, a period of accelerated growth, innovation, and rising compliance and privacy considerations in the ad tech field. <h3 id="building-on-the-open-source-advantage-">Building on the open source advantage </h3>As Umbraco’s new CEO, Persson will undoubtedly blend his extensive experience and leadership with the company’s teams, community, and partners. Based on the company’s recent traction, his roadmap will likely build on Umbraco’s diverse solutions and global expansion – all reinforced by its open-source posture. “This is a really exciting time to be joining the company,” Persson said in the company’s press release. “Umbraco has steadily grown to 150 people, with its international presence reinforced by a well-established partner network and a global community of highly-engaged open-source software contributors. Over the past thirty years of working in this industry I’ve seen that once a company reaches this size, that’s when it really gains momentum in the market.”Persson also pointed to the growing adoption of open-source software within the enterprise and public sector as an opportunity for Umbraco – specifically to build on the growth achieved in the past year and increase its international expansion. “I’ve spent decades working with proprietary software enterprises and start-ups, so I am looking forward to applying my experience within an open source CMS company that allows digital organizations the freedom to build exactly what they need,” he said. “Umbraco is also a truly international company and that’s where I bring particular value, having worked in the UK, US, and Nordics.”Along with its vigorous open source community, Persson sees Umbraco’s digital agency partner network as a force multiplier for its ambitions, and that leveraging its footprint and ability to deliver local support as decisive attributes.“Umbraco already has partners and customers throughout the EU, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, India, Vietnam, and Nepal and I’m looking forward to helping the company to build on that global presence,” he said. “The open-source CMS platform is also highly flexible and scalable, giving customers the freedom to build digital experiences that meet evolving business needs. When we support our partners and help them to grow their business with solutions that solve customers’ problems, increase transactions, and enable transformation, everyone profits.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>In my recent keynote Q&amp;A with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/buytaert/">Dries Buytaert</a> (the acclaimed founder of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a>) at the Boye &amp; Company <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect Conference</a> in Montreal, we discussed open source at length. One of the biggest questions on the docket: why industry analysts continue to look past these CMS platforms when surveying the market for their various grids and waves (you know of whom I speak). There isn’t one answer to this conundrum. Yes, there's an explicit formula based on revenue and other metrics. But the fact is, enterprise software platforms spend big bucks to engage with analysts, thus reinforcing their visibility and, perhaps, their preference. It’s impossible to eliminate all the biases. We are, after all, only human.But open source has come a long way, and the dominance of OSS (open source software) platforms like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a> is simply undeniable. When I last spoke to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/drupal-joomla-typo3-and-wordpress-join-forces-in-new-open-website-alliance">Mathias Bolt Lesniak of the Open Alliance</a>, we discussed the ripple effect of the Swiss government’s EMBAG legislation – a law that requires public sector entities to provide their apps as OSS. EMBAG was not without controversy, and some of the biggest opponents gumming up the works were proprietary platforms. This predilection towards OSS is also manifesting in a broader movement across enterprises as more companies begin to reassess the pros of open source – instead of the entrenched cons around stability, scalability, and, of course, security. The fact is, open source tools are being used across tech stacks: Kubernetes, Docker, MySQL, Linux… the list goes on. You can read more about these considerations <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-swiss-dont-miss-on-open-source-how-switzerlands-embag-law-is-evolving-the-oss-landscape">in my recent article</a> about the EMBAG law and its implications.Persson has a unique opportunity on his hands. Umbraco is an established and well-respected brand with a solid European footprint. As it looks West, there are opportunities to snare more of the addressable U.S. market – and building a stronger partner network could be key to its success. But if it can harness the market winds as they shift towards open source, there could be bigger fish on the line. Bringing on a new CEO is also a bold statement to the market, establishing Umbraco's intentions to shake things up. Culling a candidate with a strong background in digital advertising, media, and agency-focused services is a smart move, sending a further signal that Umbraco is focused on enriching its partnerships. In terms of his leadership style, Umbraco’s press release highlighted Persson's proclivity towards trusting and empowering his teams, which should gel nicely with Umbraco’s existing culture.“Umbraco is branded as ‘The Friendly CMS,’” he said. “Those core values of making things easy for users, and taking care of its partners, open-source community, and people, are demonstrated at every level of the organization.”That's what makes Umbraco so friendly: the right people.And of course, the right person to help lead the way.  <hr /> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a>

The Right Person to Lead: Umbraco Appoints Mats Persson as CEO, Reflecting Growth Ahead

Umbraco 14 Blossoms with a Fresh Architecture, Delivering Enhanced Customization and Extensibility 

<hr /> <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/jonstewart">Jon Stewart</a> is president and co-founder of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/zensource">ZenSource</a>, and CMS Critic contributor.  Both <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">Content Management Systems</a> (CMS) and Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) play pivotal roles in the education industry. They share many of the same features, however they serve different purposes in managing and delivering digital content. The complexity arises from the overlap of functionalities, compounded by the fact that many CMS vendors have evolved into DXPs, and DXP-first platforms now include a CMS. This makes it increasingly confusing for marketers and IT professionals to decode which to use and the benefits of each. Despite this, both CMS and DXP have an important and powerful place in MarTech and higher education. But there's no need to invest in costly and complex DXP-first platforms to achieve scale. By utilizing open-source <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a> with a composable approach to MarTech architecture, these two systems can be combined to deliver a comprehensive omnichannel marketing platform. This article aims to clarify the key differences and advantages of both tools, offering tips on building a fully open DXP.  <h3 id="the-difference-between-a-cms-and-a-dxp---">The difference between a CMS and a DXP   </h3>In short, while a CMS is primarily focused on content creation and management, a DXP extends its functionality to provide a holistic digital experience by incorporating various tools and capabilities to engage users across multiple touch points.  <h4 id="content-management-system-(cms)">Content Management System (CMS)</h4><ul><li>Focus: Primarily focuses on content creation, management, and publication. </li><li>Purpose: Designed for organizing and handling digital content such as text, images, videos, and documents. </li><li>Features: Provides tools for content creation, editing, version control, and workflow management. Typically used for websites and blogs. </li><li>User Experience: Centers around content editors and publishers who create and update content. </li></ul><h4 id="digital-experience-platform-(dxp)">Digital Experience Platform (DXP)</h4><ul><li>Focus: Encompasses a broader scope, going beyond content management to deliver a comprehensive digital experience. </li><li>Purpose: Aims to create seamless, personalized, and engaging digital experiences across various channels. </li><li>Features: Combines CMS capabilities with additional tools like customer data management, analytics, personalization, e-commerce, and more. </li><li>User Experience: Targets a wider audience, including marketers, developers, and IT professionals, to enhance overall digital experiences.    </li></ul>There doesn’t have to be a choice between a CMS and a DXP platform. Depending on the specific needs and goals of your organization and with proper planning and architectural design of your platform, a Drupal CMS can act as the base. Over time, additional features can be incorporated to create a full suite of DXP components. Shifting away from a monolithic approach to a single code base and process, IT professionals can opt for a decoupled system. This approach facilitates the gradual integration of features, ensuring smoother scalability, upgrades, and time-to-market advantages.            <h3 id="strategy-#1:-start-with-drupal-at-the-core">Strategy #1: Start with Drupal at the core</h3>Starting with Drupal at the core of the platform of your DXP offers significant benefits. Drupal is a powerful and flexible open-source CMS, particularly when used in higher education. It has gained exponential popularity for its versatility and extensibility. Drupal provides a highly flexible framework that allows developers to customize and tailor the platform to meet specific project requirements. Its modular architecture enables the creation of custom features and functionalities, making it suitable for a wide range of web applications that can be integrated over time such as behavioral analytics with personalization and marketing automation. It offers a user-friendly interface for content creators, allowing them to easily publish, edit, and organize content and the content modeling and structuring features make it efficient for managing diverse types of content.           Drupal is well-suited for projects of varying scale which is why it can be so powerful for scale across a multi-channel DXP content delivery model. Whether you are building a small website or a complex enterprise-level application, Drupal's scalability ensures that the platform can grow with your project's needs and publish content from one database to all your channels. It also offers strong support for APIs, facilitating integration with third-party services and applications which is crucial for creating interconnected systems that a DXP will rely on.The Drupal ecosystem includes a vast library of modules and extensions that extend the platform's functionality. This rich repository allows developers to leverage pre-built solutions, saving time and effort in development. Lastly, Drupal is committed to continuous innovation, regularly releasing updates and new features. This ensures that projects built on Drupal can take advantage of the latest technologies and trends in web development. Therefore, as the Drupal community actively expands its product roadmap, there are increasingly more modular components that help with creating core DXP features.           <h3 id="strategy-#2:-optimize-drupal-for-decentralized-authoring">Strategy #2: Optimize Drupal for decentralized authoring</h3>Optimizing Drupal for decentralized authoring while maintaining centralized brand consistency involves strategic planning, configuration, and the implementation of specific features. This will act as the authoring foundation for your enterprise-scale higher ed DXP, accommodating users with varying levels of access and roles as the platform extends. The key is to allow for users to grow within the system, striking the right balance between control, scalability of content and marketing activities, and the preservation of brand consistency. Starting this process involves establishing a well-defined content structure and modeling strategy, including a clear definition of content types, fields, and relationships to ensure consistency across various content creators and website sections. The design should be separated from the data structure, so that authors do not have to worry about breaking UI whether they’re creating content or setting up rules for marketing automation.        Leverage Drupal's role-based permissions capabilities to assign specific roles and permissions to different content authors. Ensure that decentralized authors have appropriate access levels based on their responsibilities while maintaining control over critical brand elements. Implement a content moderation workflow to control the content lifecycle. Define stages such as draft, review, and publish to enable centralized oversight and approval before content goes live. This ensures brand consistency and quality control.     Store brand assets (logos, images, style guides) in a centralized location within Drupal. Provide decentralized authors with easy access to these assets through a media library or asset repository to maintain brand consistency in visual elements. Develop custom content templates to guide content authors in creating consistent content. Templates can enforce standardized layouts, styles, and branding elements, ensuring a cohesive user experience across the site. Maintain consistency in categorization and tagging by using shared taxonomies and vocabularies. Centralize the management of categories to avoid content fragmentation and ensure that similar content is categorized uniformly. Using permissions, you can define which assets can be shared among users within the central Drupal instance. Lastly, provide training and ongoing support for content authors to ensure they understand and adhere to brand guidelines. Foster a collaborative environment where decentralized authors feel empowered to contribute while respecting brand consistency.                <h3 id="strategy-#3:-extend-drupal-over-apis-using-microservices-">Strategy #3: Extend Drupal over APIs using microservices </h3>Extending Drupal over APIs can transform the CMS into an open Digital Experience Platform (DXP) tailored for higher ed, providing flexibility, and delivering a seamless and personalized user experience across various channels. A major advantage of a microservices approach is the ability to scale individual services independently. By extending Drupal with microservices, you can ensure that specific components, such as authentication or search functionality, can scale horizontally based on demand, optimizing performance and resource utilization. This allows Drupal to offer personalized content recommendations, dynamic layouts, and targeted experiences based on individual user preferences and interactions. First, break down Drupal's monolithic structure into smaller, independently deployable services. Each microservice should represent a specific business capability, such as content management, user authentication, or personalization. This decomposition allows for agility and scalability, as each microservice can evolve independently. With APIs at the core, seamlessly integrate third-party services and applications into the DXP, enabling Drupal to act as a central hub orchestrating interactions and ensuring a cohesive user experience.Adopt an API-first design approach to expose microservice functionalities through well-defined APIs. Drupal, serving as the central content management microservice, provides APIs for content creation, retrieval, and modification, promoting smooth communication and data exchange with other microservices. Integrate user authentication services, recommendation engines, or analytics platforms as separate microservices, fostering a modular and extensible higher ed DXP.Implement DevOps practices for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD), enabling independent development and faster release cycles, while also reducing the risk of system-wide failures during updates. Monitor and analyze the microservices architecture using centralized tools to gain insights into performance, reliability, and user interactions for quick issue identification and continuous improvement.Engage with the Drupal and broader higher education community, collaborating for knowledge sharing and adopting best practices. This approach ensures that the higher ed DXP remains open, extensible, and aligned with industry standards. Extending Drupal over APIs using a microservices approach enables the creation of a flexible, scalable, and personalized higher ed DXP, preserving Drupal's renowned content management capabilities.<h3 id="strategy-#4:-build-with-security-as-your-foundation">Strategy #4: Build with security as your foundation</h3>Securing your higher ed DXP is crucial in the evolving digital landscape, where cyber threats persist and grow more sophisticated. As your DXP scales, it becomes an attractive target for cyber attackers. Adopting a security-first approach ensures resilience, safeguards sensitive data, and mitigates risks.Drupal prioritizes security with a robust security model and dedicated team, following best practices and regular updates. Enhance DXP security with thorough threat modeling, incorporating secure design principles, and adopting a defense-in-depth strategy. Identify possible threats, vulnerabilities, and attack vectors specific to your solution. Understanding the potential risks allows you to proactively design security measures. Incorporate secure design principles from the outset. Embrace the principle of least privilege, implement proper data encryption, and follow the principle of defense in depth. Design your solution with security controls at multiple layers, making it more challenging for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities. Train developers in secure coding practices, conduct regular code reviews, and adhere to data protection regulations, industry standards, and legal requirements. Make sure your team stays informed about changes in compliance standards and update your security measures accordingly. Implement robust authentication and authorization mechanisms. Use strong and adaptive authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), to verify user identities. Define and enforce granular access controls to ensure that users and systems have the minimum necessary privileges. Perform regular security audits and penetration testing to assess the effectiveness of your security controls. Identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses through simulated attacks, allowing you to remediate issues before they can be exploited in real-world scenarios.  Develop and regularly test disaster recovery and business continuity plans. In the event of a security incident or a system failure, having a well-defined plan ensures a swift response, minimizing downtime and data loss.            Encrypt sensitive data both in transit and at rest. Use industry-standard encryption algorithms to protect data from unauthorized access. Implement secure key management practices to safeguard encryption keys. Implement robust security monitoring tools to detect and respond to security incidents in real time. Set up alerts for suspicious activities and establish an incident response plan to quickly contain and mitigate security breaches. Since Drupal requires regular module updates for security patches, deploy a dedicated team to keep up with this process. Keep all software components, frameworks, and libraries up to date.For developers, marketers, and authors of your DXP, educate them on security best practices and raise awareness about social engineering tactics. Human error is a common cause of security breaches, and a well-informed workforce is a crucial line of defense.Engage with the broader security community, participate in information-sharing forums, and stay informed about emerging threats and vulnerabilities. Collaborating with the community enhances your organization's ability to stay ahead of evolving security challenges. By integrating security into the core of your solution, you create a robust and resilient fortress against potential threats. This proactive approach not only safeguards your higher ed organization but also establishes a foundation of trust in your solution's security posture.      <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Empowering Higher Ed: 4 Strategies to Transform your Drupal CMS into an Open Source DXP at Scale 

jonstewart

<hr /><h4 id="snapshot">Snapshot</h4><ul><li>Drupal, Joomla, TYPO3, and WordPress have formed the new Open Website Alliance</li><li>The organization coalesced after the group penned an open letter to the EU regarding the Cybersecurity Resilience Act</li><li>This marks the first leadership-led coordination to establish a shared structure around common values</li><li>Goals focus on supporting the advancement of FOSS and leading with a “choose open source first” message</li><li>Future plans include greater collaboration and the development of open source standards and best practices</li></ul> The term alliance receives a fair amount of love in technology circles. It makes perfect sense: software companies and organizations have long relied on partnerships to build awareness and grow channel relationships, and having friends can make it easier to scale. One might call such agreements “pacts” or “treaties,” especially if the partnership is between two competitors – or my favorite permutation, cuspetitors. But alliance evokes something distinctly positive. A spirit of assembling strengths, building consensus, elevating numbers, and rallying around a common vision or goal.Of course, as a well-documented Star Wars fan (read any of my previous pieces, I guarantee there's a nod in most), I can’t help but associate alliance with the idea of rebelling against something, of bringing unlikely bedfellows together to stand against an existential threat… like an Empire. Sometimes, it's a bit of David versus Goliath – Luke versus Vader – and there’s an implied scrappiness to that. One that’s indelible to the ethos of the cause.In the case of the new Open Website Alliance, an interesting confluence of ideologies is at play. The newly formed cabal betwixt the world’s leading open source CMSs – <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/drupal">Drupal</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/joomla">Joomla</a>, <a href="TYPO3">TYPO3</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wordpress">WordPress</a> – is very clear in its charter to advance open source interests. But there’s more, and it has to do with the very real challenges that exist for these platforms in an uncertain future of regulatory governance.To get an inside view of the freshly-minted alliance, I spoke to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathias-bolt-lesniak/">Mathias Bolt Lesniak</a> – an open source evangelist at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.toujou.com/">toujou</a>, a SaaS website building platform with TYPO3 services based in Norway. Mathias also has TYPO3 in his DNA; he is a previous consultant for the organization, a key part of the TYPO3 association, and a leading voice for the Open Website Alliance. I’d say a trusty blaster is good in any fight. But Star Wars references aside, an alliance is a solid place to start when building a movement. And if any part of the CMS market is focused on “freeing the system,” it’s the open source community. <h3 id="building-on-a-coordinated-response-to-the-eu’s-cyber-resilience-act">Building on a coordinated response to the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act</h3>Perhaps it’s apropos that <a target="_blank" href="https://typo3.org/project/press/press-releases/open-website-alliance/english">TYPO3’s press release</a> announcing the Open Website Alliance was issued from Switzerland. The idea of “neutral ground” further reinforces the compact that connects these otherwise competitive CMSs – which collectively power 50% of all online websites today.As the press release points out, the Open Website Alliance was founded to promote choice across the open source software marketplace and facilitate collaboration between free and open source (FOSS) web content management projects – thus furthering the core values of openness, trust, and quality. But where did this air of collaboration begin? As Mathias pointed out, the Alliance owes its genesis to a coordinated response from the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.drupal.org/association">Drupal Association</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.opensourcematters.org/">Open Source Matters (Joomla)</a>, the <a target="_blank" href="https://typo3.org/project/association">TYPO3 Association</a>, and the <a target="_blank" href="https://wordpress.org/">WordPress Project</a>. The organizations pooled their collective resources to pen an <a target="_blank" href="https://typo3.org/project/press/press-releases/open-letter-to-eu-legislators/english">open letter to the European Union</a> regarding its concerns about the EU’s proposed <a target="_blank" href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/cyber-resilience-act">Cyber Resilience Act</a>. “The Open Website Alliance started out with this letter to the EU,” Mathias said. “We weren't an alliance six months ago, but that was really when Drupal, Joomla, TYPO3, and WordPress got together at a leadership level to do something together. Because we shared a concern – and we had shared values. Of course, there's been collaborations between our communities previously, but this was really the first time that we met on a leadership level – board members and executives, meeting together on one call.<hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“i-think-if-you-want-an-open-web,-you-also-want-to-work-differently-with-your-partners-or-friends-in-open-source.”">“I think if you want an open web, you also want to work differently with your partners or friends in open source.”</h4><hr />At question was the Act’s ban on what it classified as ”unfinished software” and a bevy of muddled definitions surrounding “commercial activity.” In the original text, there's an implicit obligation for software to address all known exploitable vulnerabilities, and maintain a secure default configuration. The latter is particularly problematic, as there’s no way of knowing where and how open source software will be used in projects.  With FOSS products unaccounted for in the original language, open source systems could be liable for safety and security in an untenable manner. These regulations – while viewed as important for maintaining security standards – could potentially hamper European innovation and, as TYPO3 pointed out, drive activity toward U.S. tech giants.“With the Cyber Resilience Act, we discovered there was a real danger for operating as a nonprofit, free and open source content management system – and within the EU, that might actually become very, very hard,” Mathias reflected. “And what hadn't been mentioned yet were two things: first, content management systems within the EU actually represent a little more than half of all websites. Many small to medium-sized businesses use our systems – also larger ones – but that means it would have a great financial impact. The other thing that we saw was that being free and open source means we have certain values, things that we believe in, like openness and free speech. These values very much aligned with the core values of the European Union, so we thought it was an important message to give. It isn't just about business, it's also about the values behind what we do.”The open letter to the EU was issued in July of 2023. In early December, the language of the Cyber Resilience Act was agreed upon, paving the way for its adoption this year – and obligations being phased in through late 2025 and into 2027. As the Act continues to unfold, the Open Website Alliance aims to stand in solidarity against any measures that might impact their collective viability – and together, help shape solutions for all open source communities. <h3 id="collaborating-at-a-leadership-level">Collaborating at a leadership level</h3>In addition to the general community participation, the Alliance is guiding its breadth of members on a leadership level. This means the respective organizations can more easily coordinate on strategy and actions, creating a unified platform that powers new and existing cross-community collaboration projects.Leadership of the organization is also based on collaboration. While by-laws and other institutional practices have not yet fully gestated, the presidency will rotate among the members, and all decisions will be consensus-based. That said, it is by no means an established authority with centralized control or governance. Given that, I asked Mathias how he might describe its makeup and structure. “The Open Website Alliance is a very simple construction,” he relayed. “It doesn't have a formal legal body, so it’s more of a collaboration space – a community of communities, as we say. So it’s up to each member to do what the Alliance encourages.” While still nascent, Mathias did share that some of the operational components of the Alliance are already taking form. As someone who has been involved with numerous associations like this – including the well-established <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-publishes-first-annual-report-showcases-industry-impact-and-plans-for-2024">MACH Alliance</a>, which shares common traits with this new organization – I’ve seen how the right operational bedrock is key to building success.<h3 id="expanding-to-include-other-open-source-cmss">Expanding to include other open source CMSs</h3>I asked Mathias about the roadmap beyond the quintet of founders. While the four open source software communities represent a significant part of the market, many other technologies have embraced FOSS. As part of its charter, he said that the Open Website Alliance is also encouraging other FOSS CMS platforms to apply for membership.“We have seen interest from other free and open source projects or content management systems that would like to join the Alliance,” Mathias reported. “So it's open for anyone who has an <a target="_blank" href="https://opensource.org/">OSI (Open Source Initiative)</a> and a verifiable free and open source license. But in addition to that, the charter also specifies that members have to agree to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.drupal.org/association/open-web-manifesto">Open Web Manifesto</a>, which I know that Drupal and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/buytaert/">Dries Buytaert</a> (CTO and founder of Drupal and Acquia) have been promoting previously.”It's true: the vision of a free and modular web has long been part of the open source zeitgeist, due in no small part to the contributions of Dries Buytaert and the Drupal community. As Mathias said, the Alliance has taken the core Drupal manifesto and generalized it – a bit – to render it less specific to a single platform, and more reflective of the Alliance makeup.“I think if you want an open web, you also want to work differently with your partners or friends in the open source.”<h3 id="standing-together-for-open-source">Standing together for open source</h3>The <a target="_blank" href="https://typo3.org/fileadmin/t3o_common_storage/documents/press_releases/2024-02_Open_Website_Alliance/Open_Website_Alliance_Charter.pdf">purpose statement</a> the Alliance has developed provides the most basic tenets of its goals. It states, “members commit to jointly encourage prospective website owners and developers to always choose open source software over proprietary systems, and to educate why this decision is the first and most important one in a website project. Through this advocacy, we are expanding opportunities for all open source CMS projects.”As previously noted, the collaboration also seeks to benefit the public perception of open source projects – that they lean on the reliability of open source software, and are supported by the “quality and safety of open source communities.” This community aspect is key, as it speaks to the potential for members to share and discuss best practices in an open source vein. But there’s more. Accounting for the distributed and collaborative nature of open-source software – even beyond content management – the Alliance strives to support the growing reality of upstream dependencies. I asked Mathias to elaborate on this, and he focused on the evolving need for standards.“We see upstream dependencies that are increasingly dependent on much of the same technology, but in different ways,” he said. “That will be interesting as soon as we get in Alliance members that don't use PHP, but I think it's also at an idea level. If you look at what the European Union is doing today, they are putting requirements on people who work with open source, just as they do with closed source – and that means we have to develop standards. We have to develop common ways so that we're not all standing by ourselves when there's suddenly a [new] requirement for data interchange, which is a part of the new data regulation."By being proactive, Mathias believes the open source communities of interest can now plan more effectively and coordinate how they work. Through consensus, they can agree on suitable standards to help govern things like security and maintenance, which involve increasingly more upstream dependencies. “It means that we have to care just as much about each other as we care about the systems that we use.”<h3 id="what’s-next?">What’s next?</h3>As someone who has built and managed projects in both Drupal and WordPress, I’m deeply familiar with the advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of their inherent differences – or how proprietary systems might challenge them – I’ve always viewed their “open sourceness” as an innate strength. Perhaps the most valuable asset for each is its fiercely loyal community, which represents the real power and potential for the Open Source Alliance to realize change at an industry and regulatory level. When I make the obvious comparison to other industry alliances, I can’t help but think of lofty goals woven around voluminous mission statements. But open source is a different beast, beating its own drum and operating at times like a distributed hive mind. The users and contributors are vast and diverse, and the wheels of change often grind more slowly in these corners. At the same time, they're also tacitly independent – part of its democratic appeal, in truth – and that could stymie the adoption of rules and practices.I asked Mathias a logical question: what’s ahead? What do the next 12 months look like? His answer was refreshing – because it was simple and honest:“We don't have that written down,” he said, “but there are things we are talking about at a leadership level. Having an Alliance means that it's much easier for us to say, well, we want to do something together to improve how we standardize security, and then that can be disseminated from a leadership level down into the community. Another is a very simple thing, and that is attending each other's conferences. I've been attending a few other CMS conferences, and there is so much we can learn just from how our communities are organized. So community best practices are a very important thing to improve quality. We have good quality, but we can always improve on that.”For Mathias, education is also a big part of the equation. From his perspective, shifting the narrative is paramount, and leading with an “open source first” mentality is key to helping businesses, agencies, and users make better decisions. “I had the idea that what we need to do is educate the bits,” he said. “Tell people first what open source is instead of haggling about which system is best versus proprietary. So we agreed to collaborate on promoting open source as sort of a ‘white label’ thing that incorporates a lot of benefits that are common [to] all our systems, and that's where choosing open source first came in. We encourage decision-makers who are looking for content management systems to make that choice first. And once they're there, they have a lot more choice.”Mathias reinforced that collaboration underscores everything, and how the founding systems and communities are going beyond sharing best practices and working to understand each other better. “We think it's a benefit for all open source that we know each other, and that we can help every client choose the best open source CMS or find the best agency that has the experience that they need.”Alliances often present themselves as business opportunities. But sometimes, they emerge at a moment of great change or crisis, when hope is running low and great threats stand in the way of progress. When considering the more altruistic motives of open source – of the free and open web – it’s clear that this new alliance is focused on more than just the financial implications of impending regulation. In this case, open source is more like an open force for good – and one to be reckoned with.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Drupal, Joomla, TYPO3, and WordPress Join Forces in New Open Website Alliance

<hr /> The number “13” gets a bad rap in superstitious circles, but <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco</a> might see it as a good luck charm. Today, the company announced the availability of its <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/umbraco-13-release-candidate/">Umbraco 13 release candidate</a>, the next long-term supported version of its popular <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system (CMS)</a>. According to the company's blog , the package is ready for testing and can be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nuget.org/packages/Umbraco.Cms/13.0.0-rc1">downloaded via NuGet.</a>The release candidate offers an opportunity to explore Umbraco 13 and check out its new features. This includes a major update to the platform's underlying .NET framework to .NET 8 with C# 12, along with more <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/are-headless-cms-platforms-neglecting-their-users">headless</a> capabilities.Users are generally invited to test drive the Umbraco 13 release candidate and provide feedback. All of this leads to the public release, targeted for December 14, 2023.<h3>What's new in Umbraco 13?</h3>The company's announcement provides a quick overview of version 13, which offers a bevy of enhancements. This includes more flexible scaling for better performance and more sustainable hosting. Serialization, JSON, and other components have also been optimized. C# 12 will feature upgrades to Primary Constructors, Using Declarations, Field Interpolation in String Literals, and Lambda improvements.Umbraco has also included a Minimal Hosting Model, which <a target="_blank" href="https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/">Microsoft</a> introduced in .NET 6. This model merges the previous program.cs and startup.cs into one single program.cs file and simplifies the initiation of an application. But most importantly, this model is now used for all Microsoft Tutorials and examples. The implementation is also backward compatible.As part of the company's headless initiative, Umbraco 13 contains <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webhook">Webhooks</a>, so that users can inform third-party systems about events like publishing in the CMS. There's also new UI that eases this process, enabling users to type in a URL they want to call and align it with specific events.<h3>Enhancements to APIs</h3>Along with the embellishments to the core CMS, Umbraco 13 is also better aligned with the <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-commerce/reference/storefront-api">Umbraco Commerce Storefront API</a>, introducing nested field limiting and expansion for its <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-cms/reference/content-delivery-api">Content Delivery API</a>. There's new functionality with this upgrade, including greater flexibility on where to limit and expand on multiple levels.The <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-cms/reference/content-delivery-api/media-delivery-api">Media Delivery API</a> has also received some enhancements. First introduced in version 12.2, the upgrades amend some earlier compromises the company wanted to improve upon. Umbraco 13 does this by including some class fixes along with a new public interface and some changed return values. <h3>Preparing for future functionality</h3>A few features have been introduced in Umbraco 13 as prerequisites for future capabilities. One such example is the Dynamic Root for the Multinode Treepicker, implemented as an alternative to the XPath expressions. This new approach has been introduced to prepare for lazy loaded content, where Umbraco aims to introduce more efficient caching and memory management to improve performance for sites with large amounts of content. As an added benefit, it will now also be way easier to set up a relative path for the Multinode Treepicker.<h3>New editing and UX capabilities</h3>In the version 13 release candidate, one of the UX enhancements is the introduction of Blocks in the Rich Text Editor. The company plans to add more block functionality, including global blocks as reusable content.Umbraco is also working on its next-gen backoffice (called Bellissima) where new frontend technologies will take the stage. Most of this UI is bound to a new management API but has also been applied to the CMS login screen, which sports a new visual design experience. To avoid a user accidentally logging in multiple times – and to align with security by design principles – Umbraco 13 is allowing for concurrent logins, so it's now default set to false.<h3>What’s next</h3>While the version 13 release candidate is considered “feature complete,” Umbraco anticipates more changes to come. That said, the company expects most of the issues to be minor fixes based on feedback and testing.Along with bug remediation, Umbraco will focus on making HQ packages available for Umbraco Commerce, Workflow, Forms, and Deploy, and expects additional release candidates to be available shortly after this announcement. The company is also ensuring that version 13 will be available on <a target="_blank" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cloud/">Umbraco Cloud</a> when released, along with current documentation. As noted, the company is targeting a public release on December 14. To provide feedback on the release candidate, users can report them using the <a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/umbraco/Umbraco-CMS/issues/new?assignees=&amp;labels=type%2Fbug&amp;template=01_bug_report.yml&amp;title=v13%20RC1">GitHub tracker</a> by following the link or selecting “Bug Report” when creating a new issue.

Umbraco 13 Release Candidate Now Available for Testing, Offers New CMS Features

cms-critic-staff

Europe's <a href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/cyber-resilience-act" target="_blank">Cyber Resilience Act</a> (CRA) has been a lightning rod of hope and controversy for some time. The proposal, which would regulate cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements, is meant to bolster rules for hardware and software and help enhance security in a world of evolving threats.
The CRA legislation targets a broad array of categories, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices, computers, smartphones, and applications – and institutes a range of new requirements for manufacturers to improve their product security. 
At the same time, the CRA has been viewed by some as a <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/eus-proposed-cyber-resilience-act-raises-concerns-open-source-and-cybersecurity" target="_blank">threat to open source software</a>, which has enabled innovation and fueled the growth of the modern internet. Open source projects like <a href="https://kernel.org/" target="_blank">Linux</a> and <a href="https://www.apache.org/" target="_blank">Apache</a> are used freely and integrated into a bevy of products, where they power digital services for billions of users across the globe. 
Given these concerns, representatives from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/what-do-industry-experts-expect-for-the-drupal-10-launch-heres-what-they-told-us/">Drupal</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/joomla-cms-turns-16-celebrates-with-long-awaited-release-of-version-4-0/">Joomla</a>, <a href="https://typo3.org/" target="_blank">TYPO3</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/wp-engine-releases-worlds-first-study-of-the-wordpress-economy-cites-awe-inspiring-numbers/">WordPress</a> communities have banded together to address EU legislators amid the ongoing CRA amendments process. This week, the consortium penned an open letter highlighting the possible impacts of the CRA on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software" target="_blank">Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)</a> Content Management Systems (CMS).
Combined, these four CMSes power more than half of all websites around the world and play a critical role in driving a competitive European economy and enabling cross-border collaboration.
<h2>What are the concerns for open source CMS under the CRA?</h2>
One of the core issues with the CRA deals with proposed liabilities for commercial activity that results in security vulnerabilities. This would impact open source developers who solicit support or donations, making them responsible for damages due to a security issue even if they didn't produce the product itself. Such costs could put an unfair burden on smaller shops and individual developers that can't afford the operational and administrative costs to meet these requirements. 
There's also chatter about the risks involved with a proposed 24-hour reporting mandate for disclosing actively exploited vulnerabilities – which may, ironically, result in more threats from heightened visibility and inadequate remediations. 
It goes without saying that open source content management systems have profoundly impacted the evolution of digital experiences. WordPress – the most popular in the field – powers roughly 810 million websites globally, representing <a href="https://kinsta.com/wordpress-market-share/" target="_blank">43% of the overall category</a>. CRA could irrevocably change how open source CMS platforms are used in Europe, sending a ripple effect across the software industry with myriad consequences.  
<h2>Open source matters in the CMS market</h2>
To be fair, the CRA isn't being demonized by this consortium of open source projects. As advocates for enhanced security in European hardware and software, <a href="https://www.opensourcematters.org/" target="_blank">Open Source Matters</a> (a non-profit supporting Joomla) and the FOSS CMS communities behind this letter commend the legislative goals of the CRA. However, there are concerns regarding the potential negative impact of the proposed regulations on FOSS development and innovation within the EU.
"Individuals, SMEs, and institutions will be hampered either by enormous administrative burdens or a chilling effect on their activities (and a potential rush towards the American Tech Giants) for fear of risking penalties under the CRA. [...]", the letter states. "As mentioned by many other commenters...large and enterprise-class businesses may be the only ones able to profitably sustain the administrative burden of CRA compliance, quelling EU innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic livelihoods."
The letter proposes solutions to ensure continued success and alignment with the EU's goals. This includes clarifying the CRA’s exemption for FOSS and supporting users’ rights and freedoms. The letter also emphasizes the alignment of FOSS with EU core values – including human dignity, freedom, democracy, and equality.
<h2>Meeting with stakeholders to voice concerns </h2>
The proposed CRA regulation joins a platform of digital governance that the EU is spearheading. This includes the <a href="https://www.hrpo.pitt.edu/european-union-eu-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr#:~:text=The%20General%20Data%20Protection%20Regulation,of%20individuals%20in%20the%20EEA." target="_blank">General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)</a>, which was adopted in 2016 to provide a strong data privacy framework for European citizens.
GDPR was fully enacted in 2018, and has vigilantly handed down fines to entities small and large. The CRA is following a similar track, giving the EU's cybersecurity agency real teeth to enforce policies as part of its new charter. 
Open Source Matters and the <a href="https://www.thedroptimes.com/tag/inter-cms-working-group" target="_blank">Inter-CMS Working Group</a> (ICWG) have invited EU Commission members and other stakeholders to participate in a seminar in Brussels early this fall, fostering a collaborative dialogue to address the concerns raised. The seminar presents a cooperative motion from the coalition of open source communities, with the hope that friendly dialogue and collaboration might yield changes to the proposed legislation. 
The letter was signed by:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystal-dionysopoulos/" target="_blank">Crystal Dionysopoulos</a> – President, <a href="https://opensourcematters.org/" target="_blank">Open Source Matters, Inc</a>. (Joomla)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephahaden/" target="_blank">Josepha Haden Chomphosy</a> – Executive Director, <a href="https://wordpress.org/" target="_blank">WordPress Project</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivierdobberkau/" target="_blank">Olivier Dobberkau</a> – President, <a href="https://typo3.org/project/association/" target="_blank">TYPO3 Association</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdoylempa/" target="_blank">Tim Doyle</a> – CEO, <a href="https://www.drupal.org/association" target="_blank">Drupal Association</a></li>
</ul>
As events unfold, more information about the debate and the proposed seminar will be shared.
To read or download the full open letter, visit <a href="https://www.joomla.org/announcements/general-news/5891-open-letter-foss-cms-cyber-resilience-act.html">https://www.joomla.org/announcements/general-news/5891-open-letter-foss-cms-cyber-resilience-act.html</a>
<h2>About Open Source Matters</h2>
Open Source Matters (OSM) is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes the Joomla! open-source project. Its mission is to empower and unite a global community of Joomla users and contributors to cultivate and sustain an innovative and reliable content management system. For more information, visit <a href="https://www.opensourcematters.org/">www.opensourcematters.org</a>.
<h2>About Drupal, Joomla, TYPO3, and WordPress</h2>
Drupal, Joomla,  TYPO3, and WordPress are leading open-source Content Management Systems (CMS) that have significantly impacted the digital landscape. Each platform boasts its unique approach to web content management, catering to diverse user needs. Despite their different approaches to building websites, they share common values, emphasizing collaboration, accessibility, and community-driven development. Together, their collective strength fosters innovation and empowers website creators worldwide.

Drupal, Joomla, TYPO3, and WordPress Address EU with Concerns over Cyber Resilience Act

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