When I started my career in ICT I was maintaining network servers in a global organization. The server OS was Banyan Vines. It was a technically ingenious product: based on AT&T's UNIX System V it came with StreetTalk. StreetTalk was the first truly practical globally consistent name-service for an entire internetwork. Using a globally distributed, partially replicated database, StreetTalk could meld multiple widely separated networks into a single network that allowed seamless resource-sharing.
A technical superior product
Although it was technically perfect, it had a hard time getting market share. The reason was that it had a hard line of devoted technical supporters. People like me who like technical architecture, strong security, efficient maintenance. It lacked supporters in the business: the less tech-savvy and the decision makers.
And that was where the biggest issue for this technical superior product was: the techies couldn’t ‘sell’ the product to decision makers as they thought it was superior: this product will 'obviously' sell itself.
And it did... only it ‘sold’ it self to other tech companies who saw the potential and ‘copied’ the good parts into their own products. It started with Novell Netware (a MS-Dos based network OS) who sold it as Novell Directory Services and soon to follow was Microsoft who 'bought' the architect behind StreetTalk and adapted StreetTalk as what is currently known as Active Directory Services.
Losing ground rapidly
What Novell and Microsoft were able to do was sell their products based on a ‘promise’ to the business: far inferior products where being sold more and more, and all the time Banyan Vines was still working on perfecting their already perfect product. Losing ground rapidly.
By the late 1990s, VINES' once-touted StreetTalk Services' non-flat, non-domain model with its built-in messaging, efficiency and onetime performance edge had lost ground to newer technology. Banyan was unable to market its product far beyond its initial base of multi-national and government entities.
Search & replace
Now re-read the above text and replace Banyan Vines with Joomla!...
Sense of Urgency?
As a website and extension developer I clearly feel the urgency. A big part of my business relies on Joomla, so when Joomla! is on the demise that poses a direct threat to me and my business.
So the sense of urgency is there, and the good thing with a sense of urgency is that it will motivate people to step up their game. To help mitigate the issue that causes the urgency.
But the problem with a sense of urgency is, it will have people also start looking around for solutions that will also mitigate the risk: people start looking around and in the case of Joomla! start looking at other products. Some abandon ship completely and go for the greener pastures, some will adapt their service offerings to handle multiple CMS'es (Akeeba, Acyba, etc.)
Sense of Longing!
Nobody is driven by a sense of urgency, everybody (no exception!) is driven by a deep sense of longing! The desire for an easy, problem free, exciting short term future. People don't want to be part of a problem (working because of a sense of urgency), but want to be part of the solution (working because of a sense of longing).
And THAT is where the real issue with Joomla 4 lies: the lack of a shared vision you can relate to / desire for, the lack of added value for the business (other then the added value for the techies), and ultimately: the lack of the sense of longing for this vision to become reality.
Resulting in… You can fill in the dots yourself.
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. - Antoine de Saint - Exupery
What is your vision for Joomla?
So while ‘Leadership’ is busy with dividing the work, giving orders, elections, the 'plush of the seats' and the politics involved, it comes down to you and me: the developers and the end-users.
Feel free to share your vision with me (us) as a comment below and help create that sense of longing and make Joomla! great again.
The only thing worse then being blind is having sight but no vision. - Helen Keller
Photo via Good Free Photos
