I’d like to clarify one issue for your readers, though: Habari’s use of the Apache Software License does not in itself require meritocracy. We chose to follow the meritocracy model set forth by the Apache project itself, but that was a separate decision from choosing to use the Apache Software License.

A project using the GPL — or any other license! — could just as easily follow the meritocracy model.

Finally, while it’s true that discussion and deliberation within Habari might result in some long-running email threads, we think that the transparency and inclusiveness of those discussions are vitally important to our long-term success. Subject-matter experts can weigh in on their area(s) of focus and lend their experience to the conversation. It is our opinion that the final product is better for this: design and development aren’t left to the personal whim of a couple of people; it provides a very clear opening for folks to further participate in Habari; and we have a thoroughly documented history of how we arrived at decisions which interested parties can review later.

Sorry, but that really doesn’t invite me to give it a test run. Not to mention the tagline (on the about page) when addressing a main stream audience. (Hint: the tagline ‘.it’s php…’ one wouldn’t even pass the censor filter in many companies if it were not an image )

MT’s Perl requirement is very conservative, and there was weeks of discussion on the developer list the last time it was raised to this four year old version. If you’ve actually encountered a host who can’t meet a requirement of 5.8.1, I’m sure Six Apart would be very interested in hearing about it.

Su, if I remember well I mentioned the cutting edge technology of Habari both among the pros and cons (first con actually).

What exactly is the implication here? MT requires Perl 5.8.1, which was released in 2003. Oddly, you make no such caveat regarding Habari’s PHP5 requirement, which is arguably much less common than Perl 5.8.1.

The point about upgrades breaking sites is almost always related to plugins, not the core application, and frankly seems better situated in the WordPress section.

I want to be completely fair with Anil Dash’s comment on the Ask MeFi thread: Out of context the comment reads like he’s comparing Habari to Movable Type, which you should think strange if you’ve heard Anil evangelize his platform at all. Rather, he’s comparing Habari to WordPress in his statement. Still, I appreciate the comparison, and agree wholeheartedly.

Besides that, it seems like Habari is making huge advances all the time. Our 0.5 release will once again raise the bar, and hopefully we’ll be closer to enticing our own designers – who are understandably not as code-savvy as our developers – to switch to the platform they’ve helped create.