Do I go the commercial route with MT4, or the Open Source route with MTOS?
MT4 is already beta-testing 4.1, so there seems to be some ongoing momentum from 6A to keep it developing. I've had a paid MT3 license, and have sometimes used (and found quite handy) the tech support. 6A is saying they'll have that, plus some other special bits for MT4 subscribers.
On the other hand, the Open Source community is pretty darned keen, and it might turn out to be a more dynamic setup than what 6A provides. And, of course, you know -- free.
Bottom line, it's an awful time to choose because there's no track record for MTOS, nor for MT4 in the new arrangement. It's not clear how far the two forks will diverge, leading to the question of whether the Incredibly Spiffy Add-On I Want will be available on MT4 or MTOS. Will MT4 become more of a professional business tool, and MTOS the thing that Common Joes use to blog on, or will MTOS die on the vine and MT4 be the way things are going? I've not seen any intelligent commentary on the subject online.
Bottom line, I can probably just choose one or the other and Just Do It for now, monitoring to see when it become an issue, but I'd very much like to only have to jump once.
Filed under :: Blogging
From the MTOS FAQ page.
What about paid users? Do we get any bonuses for paying now that there's an Open Source version?MTOS will be community-supported, while paying users will always have exclusive access to our professional support team. In addition, commercial add-ons such at MTES and MTCS are only available for paid commercial licensees.
We'll also be increasing the benefits for paid users in the future, though we haven't announced specifics yet. You can expect even better support and exclusive add-ons or feature packs to augment the functionality of the free versions of Movable Type.
I'm not interested in the commercial add-ons. The support team is cool -- though likely overkill, if only I knew the level of "community support" MTOS is actually going to have.
The "increasing benefits" sounds interesting, but undefined.
Another way of framing the question: if I change my mind in the future, am I more likely to be able to migrate easily from MTOS to MT4, or MT4 to MTOS?
Well, you need to do SOMETHING. :) I love MT, I do, saw it through many ups and downs, contributed to it's popularity (if I do say so myself), still use it for some things, but am rly rly happy with *gasp* WP for sekimori.org... Don't tell anyone.
Well, I do definitely value your input on that, Seki. I'm not planning on converting to WP yet, but I am looking intensely at the MT4ish options.
Well, to simplify matters:
1. MTOS is announced, but not yet out.
2. MT4's tech support is subscription-based, which makes it a lot less attractive. :-)
So I'll be testing out the MT4 Personal Ed. :-)