Pre-made vs coded from scratch forum/cms software

[setishock]

One of the members is beating people up in thread after thread that if the forum/cms software is not coded from scratch it ain't shit. I disagree with that perspective. And speaking just for myself, their logic is seriously flawed.

Not every one is wanting to learn how to code from scratch and/or has the time. Pre-made software to me is making the internet world more readily accessible to those that otherwise would not have the chance.
I use vBulletin for my anime site and we run vBulletin at CV. Both sites run like a Swiss watch and require very little to make subtle or big changes. Whereas if the site is hand coded from scratch you might just wind up rewriting blocks of code or the whole thing to make changes. And that seems like a lot of trouble to me.

Not to take away from those that do hand code and know their stuff when it comes to that but there are those out there, moi included, that just don't know how or have a firm enough grip on how to take a shot at it. We are the ones that turn to either pay for or open source.
And there's not a bloody thing wrong with that. Nothing!
With the advent of packaged forum/cms software, ideas, concepts, passions that otherwise would have been stifled or just plain lost, now spring to life on the World Wide Web. People that have no clue about coding but have something they want to say or share with the world now have that opportunity.

From time to time they may pop in to an established forum and ask for some sort of assistance. Whether it's something like asking if any one wants to help by posting content to what can they do to make the logo look better.
NOT get beat up over whether or not they wrote the code from scratch. That sort of response is counter productive, a waste of time, and is a sure bet to run off this person from any forum, not just this one.

So what you guys and gals think of open source/buy versus coding from scratch?
Please let's keep this calm and civil. And keep to generalizations not any one software is better than another one.

 

[01001010]

I'm not a web developer. Simple as that. I don't do this as a living, but as a hobby. Using software that's provided prebuilt is alright, as long as you make it your own. I have a pet peeve at those who just use the software straight from the box. That just shows you don't want to spend the time to at least get acquainted with the software you're working with.

 

[setishock]

Yeah mines a hobby too. It's time consuming but I've learned a lot and it's fun to me. I've even dabbled at making skins for it.

 

[DJ-CHRIS1]

Just consider how big of a dev team that both phpBB and VB have, it's massive. Writing forum software isn't something that any sites should even look at attempting unless they are massive (like google, youtube, facebook, etc)

 

[Kage]

Not to mention, if you are coding the site yourself, there are obviously going to be flaws you don't know about, making the site available to hackers.

 

[J03]

Unless you have enough time & skill to do it PROPERLY, stick with a CMS. I'm not saying that you should make your own CMS if you DO have the time... A lot of people would consider it to be a waste of time.

 

[David Lindon]

I think its best to run vb because the majority of other forums do and so everyone knows exactly how to use it whereas if you create a custom one your users will have to learn a completely different system.

 

[burn1337]

Seti - Is it a crime to simply ask someone a question about their methodology and use of open source? Is it a crime to have an opinion?
Yes there was one time I actually was rude to someone, and I apologized to that person, why I lost my temper was due to a lot of bs going on in my life.
Since then I have not been disrespectful to anyone about using anything cms, or pre-build. Yet here I am being accused of being some hack and slasher because I voice my opinion. And I have never once said anything looked like shit. If I remember correctly, it is I who has had everyone on me cause my hand-coded site doesn't look that great. Yet do I get offensive about it? No I do not.
Sorry if I do not exactly like that someone would use open source material, but yet then shun open source material just the same. How is that beating someone up? Or explaining what I mean by asking the question, how is that beating someone up?
As I said I think pre-built cms's are a good thing for those who don't know what the hell they are doing. But seriously, if your going to use open source yet shun open source, is it a crime for someone to question you on that?
Also, yes I will say if I didn't know what the hell I was doing, I might try an open source CMS, but otherwise if I seriously wanted something of the sort, I would learn to do so. Just as I am.
But again I will say, it is a good thing to have for those who do not know what they are doing.

 

[01001010]

But again I will say, it is a good thing to have for those who do not know what they are doing.

What is your point? Many sites out there today are built on different engines. Just because the webmaster didn't code it from the ground up doesn't mean they have no idea what they're doing.

http://www.bobdylan.com/

I'd bet you'd never know that site was built from Drupal, and I'm pretty sure Sony paid a lump sum to have that built.

 

[burn1337]

Actually I could tell it was made from drupal. (page source)
Though yes it looks good, but I would still be more impressed if it was hand coded. If Sony wants to pay for open source code, I am sure they would pay twice as much for hand coded too. But I can also say, that if something were to go wrong with that site, if the webmaster doesn't know what he is doing, he will have one hell of a time trying to fix it. Granted yes sometimes some clients will want you to use open source, or certain products. Normally so it will be up faster. Personally if I had a client that wanted me to do so, I would refuse it.
Also with all honesty, if a webmaster can only do it through open source products, what does that really say about that webmaster? Take any truelly skilled or graduate programmer or webmaster; guaranteed, those who make their own code, make more money have more clients then those who only use open source. Or at least all the successful programmers/web designers I have come across. Also from those I have known who work for big industries, not using your own snippets or your own code, is shun upon. I actually heard about someone who was working for a big company who submitted all his work from open sourced material and lost his job 2 months after getting it.