By fresh-off on

the subject line is pretty much my question.

i've been reading here and there, and the impression i'm getting is that civicspace is the same thing as drupal, just with some extra modules, and that its EASIER to install. i'm a complete newbie.. and i know drupal has A LOT of features to learn.. so an easy instalation sounds lovely.. i just dont want to be locked out of drupal features in the future if i go with the "easier" to install civicspace..

here's a link to my first post, which shows what i'm trying to accomplish wiht drupal. pretty standard stuff from what i gather.. but just some additional info, in case it makes a differnce

http://drupal.org/node/41453

thanks for any suggestions!!

Comments

kvarnelis’s picture

kvarnelis commented

i'd love to know too...

my impression is that civicspace is based on a very outdated version of drupal and that the gap between the two is opening up...

sepeck’s picture

sepeck commented

Not at all. CivicSpace is a packaged distribution of Drupal. It lags a bit sometimes as it has a lot of packaged contrib modules integrated as features that are not core that they test and make sure get upgraded. By lags a bit, I think it is maybe a few weeks at most. Managing a package like that is complex so if you go with their distro, you can be sure you are getting a Drupal core+ package from a group of people that actively participates and contributes to the Drupal community.

I believe the current CivicSpace distro is based on 4.6.5. You can find out a lot by looking at the CIvicSpaceLabs site for more information
Check this out for their features list ...
http://civicspacelabs.org/home/node/15257

Their active preparation can be seen on their site here: http://civicspacelabs.org/home/developers/roadmap where you will see many familier names. Looks like the 'lag' factor will be considerably lessoned to perhaps hours for future releases.

-sp
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain

-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide

kvarnelis’s picture

kvarnelis commented

doesn't look that old at all. based on 4.64:

http://civicspacelabs.org/home/changelog

well, somewhere out there is a civicspace site that says it's based on an age-old drupal distro. if i find it, i'll bring it to the attention of the proper authorities!

maybe worth checking out then...

sepeck’s picture

sepeck commented

Ya, like that sites admin. You set it up, you better keep up.

You to can sign up for the Drupal Security Newsletter. It's fun and practical and will save you those oh so embarassing 'why weren't we patched' questions.

-sp
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain

-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide

fresh-off’s picture

fresh-off commented

errr... so i'm still a little confused...

since i'm a newbie, i guess i'm just looking for simple answers.
does it matter which one i install? if civicspace is easier to install and i go with it, will i be able to take advantage of modules and features from BOTH drupal & civicspace?

Boris Mann’s picture

Boris Mann commented

For the most part, yes. CS is a specialized bundle or distribution of Drupal core plus contrib modules. Go ahead and use it. It may have many more modules than what you want, which causes increased use of memory. That is one reason that you might want to go with core Drupal and only add what you need.

If you are just starting out, using CS is fine.

fresh-off’s picture

fresh-off commented

very helpfull!!

dm2243’s picture

dm2243 commented

civicspace isn't yet php5 compatible, or at least it wasn't a couple weeks ago. after spending a couple days trying to get it to work i ended up having to give up on civicspace and instead installed drupal 4.6 and then installed the other modules "a la carte."

kvarnelis’s picture

kvarnelis commented

the version of civicspace that i installed gave me different options for modules so i wouldn't worry about the memory. let me point out that civicspace is marginally easier than dru to install. you still have to create a database for example. if you have fantastico and any decent server does (in my book), then it's easier to install drupal that way.

robertDouglass’s picture

robertDouglass commented

I'm not sure who is responsible for Fantastico's Drupal integration (is it centralized? Would the Fantastico Drupal-maintainer please step forward?), but I trust the CivicSpace upgrade path and security focus more than Fantastico. I'm not trying to diss Fantastico, but until proven otherwise, I assume that Drupal, to them, is "just another PHP script that we install", whereas the CivicSpace people view Drupal as their mission on Earth.

- Robert Douglass

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My sites: HornRoller.com, RobsHouse.net

sepeck’s picture

sepeck commented

Fantastico is a packager. Packages are up to the folks who provide the service. There is no one maintainer for Fantastico

-sp
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain

-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide

robertDouglass’s picture

robertDouglass commented

So in essence, you are trusting the skills of your web host to install and upgrade Drupal. YIKES!!!!

- Robert Douglass

-----
My sites: HornRoller.com, RobsHouse.net

sepeck’s picture

sepeck commented

One of the most common forums issues are often related to fantastico. The install.txt has valuable information in it, especially step 6 relating to cron.php. People using Fantastico are the ones asking why their search doesn't work, why database tables are growing, etc. Of course they used Fantastico. They people who package this also need to someone prompt people to read things like the instructions for items not covered in the 3 second install. Also, you are relying on your host to keep the installer updated.

Maybe step 6 needs to be moved to the welcome screen.

-sp
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain

-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide

kvarnelis’s picture

kvarnelis commented

a good fantastico install will be maintained regularly and can install not just once but updates as well.

moreover, by having your host provide the package, if something goes wrong, it's not just your bloody fault. hosts won't necessarily fix your problem or anything, but if something goes wild and takes over your cpu usage for example (judging from these forums, this does happen), you aren't in danger of violating TOS immediately.