Has Anyone Checked Out Magento Ecommerce ??

[tcraw1010]

http://www.magentocommerce.com/

It looks to be a very impressive open-source ecommerce system - much more feature rich than VirtueMart.

Trouble is, it doesn't look as though they have developed a component integration/bridge for Joomla yet.
Nevertheless, it looks very promising - if one could figure out a way to bridge user registration database.


Still, some of the future upgrades/features look very promising . . .

# Bundles
# Virtual products with support for downloadable products
# Support for grouped products built from configurable products
# Web Services API
# Gift Registry
# Gift Certificates (virtual)
# Customer Balances
# RMA support
# Drag n’ Drop design mode
# Banner Management
# Affiliates System (basic) and Campaign Management
# Backorders (full)
# Cost Management
# Warranties
# Subscription Management
# Required Items
# Recommended Items
# Strongly-Recommended Items
# Multiple wish lists
# Gift Wrap option
# Alternative checkout methods (multi-step, javascript free)
# Limited catalog access per user group
# Membership management
# Enterprise Search
# 3rd party integration ... (CMS, Payment, Shipping, Affiliate, Accounting, etc.)
# Improved import/export methods

[tempusserbia]

It looks very promising and has nice layout.

[tcraw1010]

Honestly, it looks to knock VirtueMart on it's cyber ass - if they can just get the CMS integration up and running.

[Menalto]

Can this be something? http://www.joomla.com.br/blog/2008/02/14/magento-and-joomla-howto/

[BigRK]

That looks like a set up that might work. Magento is a stable version now and I think somewhere on their forum they discuss using it with Joomla also.

[tcraw1010]

That looks like a set up that might work. Magento is a stable version now and I think somewhere on their forum they discuss using it with Joomla also.
Well, I know that integration with Joomla is on their "to do" list . . . just not sure when they are planning "to do" it.

I have never used JFusion before . . . I'll have to read up on it. I mean, that's basically the main issue - cross user integration and compatibility. Everything else can be linked separately.

[instantinlaw]

Unless Magento fixes it's license to comply with the GPL, it is unlikely that Joomla will support it.
Take a look at http://www.openfreeway.org for an alternative to both Magento and Virtuemart.

Both Magento and Freeway still have a long way to go before being stable enough to use on a production site, but both are very active in developing thier products.

Personally I like Magento over Freeway, but Joomla is supporting Freeway, so it looks like Freeway will end up being the one to take out Virtuemart.

I have been watching both of these programs for some time now and I can't wait for them to become mature enough to use.

I was so impressed with both of them that I registered some domains.

freewayfreelancers.com
freewaycoders.com
freewayskins.com
freewaytemplateclub.com

magentemplate.com
magentemplates.com
magentocode.com
magentocode.net
magentosite.com
thememagento.com

:)

[mae82my]

This is really a great news and it really look very promising :) yeah, can't wait till it been integration with Joomla...great infomation tcraw1010...Thanks! ;)

[tcraw1010]

I was so impressed with both of them that I registered some domains.

freewayfreelancers.com
freewaycoders.com
freewayskins.com
freewaytemplateclub.com

magentemplate.com
magentemplates.com
magentocode.com
magentocode.net
magentosite.com
thememagento.com

:)

Quite the speculative capitalist you are, Bill. ;)

[instantinlaw]

LOL! :D
I have wasted tons of hard earned cash on domain speculation Tom, but I think those have the most potential to pay off in the long run.
Wanna see my portfolio?

[tcraw1010]

Personally I like Magento over Freeway, but Joomla is supporting Freeway, so it looks like Freeway will end up being the one to take out Virtuemart.

Well, I know that there is a good deal of interest within the general Joomla Community for a Joomla + Magento integration --> SEE HERE (http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=470&t=205951&st=0&sk=t&sd=a)

[tcraw1010]

LOL! :D
I have wasted tons of hard earned cash on domain speculation Tom, but I think those have the most potential to pay off in the long run.
Wanna see my portfolio?
Nah, I believe you . . . . I have about 30 myself. ;)
(though I'm sure that pales in comparison to what you own)

[instantinlaw]

Well, I know that there is a good deal of interest within the general Joomla Community for a Joomla + Magento integration --> SEE HERE (http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=470&t=205951&st=0&sk=t&sd=a)
Yeah I know and have been watching, but the license that Magento is released under is incompatable with the GPL. That is what is holding back on the intergration. Let's hope Magento gets on the bandwagon and makes thier license compatable.

& yeah it's about 78 domains at last count.:)

[tcraw1010]

The more I look through the Magento documentation, screencast tutorials and general interface, the more I am impressed with it. I suppose a complete Magento + Joomla integration isn't absolutely necessary - so long as one can merge user login/registration across platforms (i.e. with something like JFusion or something).

Apparently, someone already successfully did this with a previous release of Magento . . . and is currently working on an upgrade. If this happens, I think I will definitely purchase JFusion and use Magento for my ecommerce platform. To me, Magento seems far more robust than any of the other offerings out there.


As for the GPL license issue, the following is a post within the "Joomla Integration" Group within the Magento site:


regarding compatibility between GPL and other licenses, can’t confirm Roy Rubin posted this but on:
http://groups.drupal.org/node/9939#comment-33808

“I can confirm that licensing is not an issue. We’ve discussed such scenarios with our legal counsel and there is no issue whatsoever.

Roy / Magento”

yes, the quote above was relating to Drupal, but the issue is the same.

[instantinlaw]

Hey Tom,

I know, I've kept an eye on the subject and there are all kinds of theroies floating around, but the quotes I post below are straight from gnu.org & Magento.

Unfortunatly Drupal is released under the Creative Commons licence and the post you quote is in question to whether Magento and Drupal licences are compatable.

In addition, the Creative Commons Licence appears to be incompatable with the GPL as well.

From gnu.org


Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode) (a.k.a. CC-BY) This is a non-copyleft free license that is good for art and entertainment works, and educational works. Please don't use it for software or documentation, since it is incompatible with the GNU GPL and with the GNU FDL.Creative Commons publishes many licenses which are very different. Therefore, to say that a work “uses a Creative Commons license” is to leave the principal questions about the work's licensing unanswered. When you see such a statement in a work, please ask the author to highlight the substance of the license choices. And if someone proposes to “use a Creative Commons license” for a certain work, it is vital to ask immediately, “Which one?” Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode) (a.k.a. CC-BY-SA) This is a copyleft free license that is good for artistic and entertainment works, and educational works. Please don't use it for software or documentation, since it is incompatible with the GNU GPL and with the GNU FDL.Please see additional comments about Creative Commons licenses just above.
Simple Machines had to remove the Joomla bridge because it was not compatable with the GPL.
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=184557
I am not sure what licence simple machines is, but it is not compatable.

Magento uses the OSL (Open Software Licence) which according to www.gnu.org (http://www.gnu.org) is not compatable with the GPL

From the Magento site:


What OSI-approved open source license do we use for Magento? Magento software will be distributed under the Open Software License (OSL 3.0), and is thus certified open source software. See http://opensource.org/licenses/osl-3.0.php.

From gnu.org:


Open Software License, all versions through 3.0 (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/osl-3.0.php) The Open Software License is a free software license. It is incompatible with the GNU GPL in several ways. Recent versions of the Open Software License have a term which requires distributors to try to obtain explicit assent to the license. This means that distributing OSL software on ordinary FTP sites, sending patches to ordinary mailing lists, or storing the software in an ordinary version control system, is arguably a violation of the license and would subject you to possible termination of the license. Thus, the Open Software License makes it very difficult to develop software using the ordinary tools of free software development. For this reason, and because it is incompatible with the GPL, we recommend that no version of the OSL be used for any software.We urge you not to use the Open Software License for software you write. However, there is no reason to avoid running programs that have been released under this license.
To view all the compatable & non compatable licences go to:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html

Believe me when I say that I don't want to rain on your parade, and I would really like to see a Magento-Joomla intergration, but I doubt that there will be anything more than a bridge, which may or may not confilct with the two licences.

Just my 2 cents.

[tcraw1010]

I've created a thread/post over at the Magento Commnunity Form in effort to try and light a fire under the Magento Development Team to get on with working on a clean integration component for the most popular Content Management Systems - especially Joomla.

Check out the thread/vote HERE --> http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/9915/


Imagine what something like a future JA ecommerce template would be like with this amazing ecommerce system as the backbone.


:D