Gov.uk named THE BEST THING Britain has made all year

[SueEllen]

That got me as well
the gov.uk is home brew Ruby on Rails.
data.gov.uk is on Drupal.

we have similar stuff where some expert won't use off the peg and writes their own. Then the off the peg moves forward with an upgrade and the home brew breaks completely at which point we panic because the guy who wrote the home brew stuff has retired.

Still think a broken link report is required.

RoR isn't homebrew as you call it. It's been around since 2004.

[vetran]

RoR isn't homebrew as you call it. It's been around since 2004.

Maybe its me, I'm not explaining myself well enough.

RoR=Development language with a framework (like C++ or Java)
Site Built on RoR= Internally developed solution for content management.(Homebrew)
Site Built with Drupal/Joomla=out of the box content management.(off the peg)

Forth & Visual basic have been around for decades but they aren't content management systems. If I developed a content management system in these to fix my own singular problem I would call it homebrew.

[vetran]

also agree with the earlier point this is not a personal slight on NickFitz , it was a series of suggestions for improvement to an "award winning project" that I and others felt didn't cut the mustard.

[Sysman]

That's a good example of a case where the site that has the ultimate content is still outside: direct.gov.uk is the old "portal" from Mr Blair's era which is in the process of being supplanted.

Here's another example: DWP - Services and benefits online - What do I need?

The service does not work properly with Macs or other Unix-based systems even though you may be able to input information.

You are likely to have problems if you use Internet Explorer 7, 8, 9 and 10, Windows Vista or a smartphone. Clearing temporary internet files may help but you may wish to claim in another way.

...
What the service was designed to work with

The service was designed to work with the following operating systems and browsers. Many of these are no longer available.

Microsoft Windows 98:

Internet Explorer versions 5.0.1, 5.5 and 6.0
Netscape 7.2

Microsoft Windows ME

Internet Explorer version 5.5 and 6.0
Netscape 7.2

Microsoft Windows 2000

Internet Explorer version 5.0.1, 5.5 and 6.0
Netscape 7.2
Firefox 1.0.3
Mozilla 1.7.7

Microsoft Windows XP

Internet Explorer 6.0
Netscape 7.2
Firefox1.0.3
Mozilla 1.7.7

[Sysman]

Maybe its me, I'm not explaining myself well enough.

RoR=Development language with a framework (like C++ or Java)
Site Built on RoR= Internally developed solution for content management.(Homebrew)
Site Built with Drupal/Joomla=out of the box content management.(off the peg)

Forth & Visual basic have been around for decades but they aren't content management systems. If I developed a content management system in these to fix my own singular problem I would call it homebrew.

s/homebrew/bespoke/g

?

[vetran]

s/homebrew/bespoke/gl

?

Bespoke is passable description as well.

I chose Homebrew to give it an amateur feel.These guys whilst they may be adept with a sewing machine haven't sewn thousands of suits already and acquired a shop on Saville Row. This is the first garment they have made together.

My worry is that they could have used an existing standard tool and got support from people who have years of experience using it. There are security tools that know how to scan it and its monitored code in case of exploits.

There are thousands of installs of things like Drupal run by big and technically competent organisations, the bugs are beaten out.

This would be the safest solution for the size & criticality of the install. They could have also slid the link tester module in overnight.

By all means contribute to open source, maybe they could have forked a dotgov variant tuned to their needs but they have started from scratch. I predict in 5 years there will be 3 people in the world who can support it and they will charge £5K a day.

[Sysman]

By all means contribute to open source, maybe they could have forked a dotgov variant tuned to their needs but they have started from scratch. I predict in 5 years there will be 3 people in the world who can support it and they will charge £5K a day.

Point taken and in Drupal's case there are regular security alerts which means plenty of competent folks are keeping their eyes on the ball.

FWIW a mate who was working in a university until he retired recently said a few years ago that RoR was all the rage with his students, so it's probably another case of using the latest and greatest fad toolset.

That £5K a day does sound attractive though