Brad Choate: Movable Type 3.0:
This means that if you are 1 author and you use 11 different weblogs to power your 1 web site, or even 300 weblogs to power your 3 web sites, you can use the free version. It doesn’t cost you $600. It doesn’t cost $1.
I have read over the stuff at SixApart, read over the comments and criticisms from both their defenders and the unloved masses, and I have not seen a simple distillation like this anywhere.
Again, I’m struck by the reiteration of how this license took months to develop, but only a day to remove stuff like the single CPU restriction. How do you miss that?
On the other hand . . . .
Freedom 0 [dive into mark]:
This site now runs WordPress. Thanks to the wonderful people on the
#wordpressIRC channel, I was able to migrate almost all of my complex Movable Type configuration, including custom URLs (so permalinks shouldn’t break, and you won’t need to resubscribe to my syndicated feeds).
And I found his thoughts on where SixApart and MT worked well and not so well echoed my own:
It hit a certain sweet spot which is difficult to define but easy to recognize when it works. Also, it was light years ahead of its competition.
However, Movable Type stagnated while Six Apart grew and focused on other priorities, like TypePad. The limitations of Movable Type 2.6 were increasingly irritating, and I evaluated all of the available open source alternatives. I came away severely unimpressed. I decided to wait patiently for Movable Type 3.0.
I set up a test installation of WordPress last night on my iBook and the 5-minute install is pretty accurately described. I was able to set it up and import 1800+ entries and 1000+ comments in a minute or two. Looks great.
I haven’t decided to move yet: it’s not an easy decision to make. It’s not obvious to me what “MovableType-isms” I’ve become dependent on. I think dropping the css stuff that I have been using would be the Right Thing to Do, since it’s stock MT stuff.
ecto works just fine with WordPress (thanks, Adriaan): one less thing to worry about.
The bottom line hasn’t changed. I can stay with 2.661 awhile longer, evaluate 3.0 and WordPress side by side, and then see what works for me.