[Linux-aus] Open Source DMS- folder structures

[Daniel Pittman]

Tim Bowden <tim.bowden at westnet.com.au> writes:
> On Thu, 2010-07-15 at 12:35 +1000, Anestis Kozakis wrote:
>>
>> Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this, but I am looking
>> for an Open Source Document Management System that does not use a
>> fodler-based structure for the display of documents.
>
> Just out of interest, what is the downside you see of using a folder based
> structure?  Is that just a particular use case for you, or is there some
> philosophical reason not to go that way?

Well, not being Anestis I can't answer for him, but I can tell you why
I cringe a little bit when "folder structure" is touted as a feature on this
sort of tool:

I already have a perfectly good tool for creating a folder structure full of
files; ext3 and xfs have plenty of history and work fine for that.

What I want from a DMS is something that goes beyond: that lets me index and
access the documents more sensibly and robustly based on metadata, and to
modify that data efficiently.

So, when someone tells me how very much like the file system their DMS
solution is I wonder why they think that was sufficient, and what value they
are going to add.

(Usually, the answer is "a web UI to manage permissions", and maybe a little
 bit of "email when a file changes", and that is about it.)

[...]

> Does anyone have any strong views or experiences with those either in
> combination or individually as a "ready to roll out solution" for small
> business?

Alfresco worked well for the folks I talked to using it a couple of years
back, to the point I was recommending it for an in-house trial for serving up
solutions to our clients.

We never got beyond installing it and verifying that it basically worked,
though, so I can't say much beyond that I thought it worth evaluating harder.


Zimbra is grand; we use it happily, and recommend it, and have done for
years.  My main concern, right now, is to see if VMWare actually produce
another release, but their BTS shows that work is being done, so I presume it
is going to happen...

        Daniel
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