Contributions question

Hi there,

Our company is looking at using an Open Source solution for the e-commerce requirements of our clients.

I think the choice between osCommerce and zen-cart is a no-brainer, however a colleague had already plumped for osC before I had a look at the options.

The only thing in osC's favour is the large number of contributions available for it. While that is a strong argument, in my view it's clearly outweighed by zen-cart's positives (such as greater activity, better organised and crafted code, built-in contributions for most requirements).

So I was wondering:

1. if anyone has any clear response to the contributions argument for osC.

2. How hard is it to convert an osC contribution to zen-cart? ie how much would typically need to be altered, roughly? Hacking PHP code is not a problem, we have the experience and skills to manage that acceptably.

3. How can I tell whether a zen-cart contribution will work with the current version of zen-cart? The contributions page lists a version for each contribution, but it's not clear how likely it would be to work on the latest one.

Any info would be greatly appreciated and would be invaluable in the decision of which to choose.

Thanks v much!
Rich

Hello,

I will answer as best I can,

most of OSC modules will not work with the new version of OSC until they are re-written,

as for modifying OSC modules
it depends on the modules,

I dont know about the third one, unless someone has tried it and posted that it works with the new version,

more and more modules are being posted as to what version they work with

if anyone has any clear response to the contributions argument for osC.What I can say about this is that while there are many contributions for OSC, frst off one must add many just to create a cart that has any functionality at all, and they are not at all plug & play, be prepared to hack at each and every one of them. Then when you add another and it breaks the whole thing or at least parts, be prepared to debug exactly what & why it happened.

The quickest way is to select a basic list of functions and install OSC and the mods required to get there.(Let him do this) and you install Zencart as most all of the functionality is built in. You will be done and sipping a pint long before he will be able to join you.

You can also ask him to post a question to their forum and buy him some "Grecian Formula" so he can ward off the gray while he waits. Seriously, this community is by far more robust and for most issues, responsive.

As far a module currentness and the community response; Eariler this month there was a new release of ZenCart - 1.3.6 - poke around in the download area and see how many mods are updated and the time interval for this. On top of this, many do not require adjustment, and as this is an open community, there are unfortunately those few mods where the creator has moved on or?? and it can take a bit of time for another to realize that one has left and that there is a need for another to take up the module maintenance. As merlin stated this is dependant upon one finding that it does work and then posting that it does. Unfortunately, the method for this is not as organized as one might like and usually winds up in a post on ZenCart 1.3.?? Module compatibility.

Looks like I will have to look at the new version of OSC as there was one released recently - albeit - an Alpha release.

Thanks for your thoughts Merlinpa.

If most OSC modules won't work with the latest version, that should be enough to swing the argument the way it really seems (to me at least) that it should go.

Security is a priority for us, and zen-cart's system for facilitating update of a modified site is (another) one of its plus points.

cheers

Thanks kobra.

As it happens, he's already pretty much done that - before I got involved. He'd got osC up and running, installed a range of contributions, hacked a bit of code here and there himself, without keeping record of what changes were made or where.

He actually managed to occupy some two or more weeks just doing this, which surely must be a good argument against osC in itself!

The real problem I'm facing is this guy seems to want to monopolise this area, he isn't open to looking impartially at the options available (eg zen cart), and is not forthcoming with his thoughts and views on what he accomplished over that two weeks. (from the sounds of it, comparing the activity on this forum and the positive words of help everywhere with osC, maybe that means he is more suited to osC??)

Anyway, thanks for your help. I feel a bit better armed for the discussions about this decision that lie ahead.