Power To The People. pMachine’s Class Act On A Mac

Continued from Page 2…

Interview with Rick Ellis, founder of pMachine and developer of the popular CMS application, Expression Engine (EE).

Mac360 - You have a music background. Did you or do you use the Mac for creating developing music? Which applications do you prefer, and why?

Rick - Yes, absolutely. Although I started in the recording industry when million dollar Neve and SSL mixing consoles and analog tape were the standard, as digital tools began rivaling them in power and flexibility I began gravitating toward them. 

ProTools is the de-facto standard for professional audio so it became my recording, editing, and mixing platform of choice.

Mac360 - We just set up a PowerMac G5 with Final Cut Studio. We’ve used FCP for a long time but are blown away by the integration of professional audio and video applications Apple has provided within Studio.

Rick - It’s amazing how powerful these programs are getting. When I started in audio you had to buy clustered processing chips in “farms” in order to do real-time processing.  It’s all native now.

Mac360 - What does Mac OS X need to become a serious tool for the IT department of larger companies?

Rick - The problem is mostly one of perception. OS X is very capable, but the culture in IT departments has traditionally been split into two (rabid) camps:  Linux and Windows.  This seems to be changing as more IT professionals personally embrace OS X.

Mac360 - So, only “perception” and not capability?

Rick - I don’t see any limitations to OS X, but then I’m using it to develop web applications, so my needs are not as broad as someone in a corporate IT environment.

Mac360 - When did you first begin using Macs? What impresses you about Mac OS X and the Unix/BSD/Mach roots?

Rick - I started using Macs back when System 6 was the current OS so I’ve grown up using Macintosh.  In the late 90’s I followed the early discussions regarding Apple’s need for a more modern operating system. 

At one point Apple was considering buying BeOS, then Steve Jobs came back and brought NeXT with him, which became OS X. I was an early OS X adopter, making the switch personally, while I continued using OS 9 professionally with ProTools and other audio applications, like Performer.

I was doing web development part-time in those days, so I eagerly switched to OS X.  It immediately allowed my productivity to increase.  Instead of needing to upload web pages to a server to look at them I could do it locally on my desktop system.

Mac360 - How many hours a day do you use your Mac? (Remember, there’s only 24 hours in a day?

Rick - I’m addicted to my Powerbook.  It’s in use pretty much all the time.

Mac360 - Expression Engine is often referred to as a CMS application; blogging is referred to as “personal web publishing.” How does EE compare with others (Blogger, MoveableType, et al.)?

Rick - Very favorably. The tools you mentioned are firmly entrenched in blogging whereas we are a more broad application, suitable for nearly any type of content management.

What’s wrong with Windows? “Nothing, if you like running a bug-ridden, insecure operating system with a user interface that looks like it was built by committee.”Mac360 - Are you ready to call Expression Engine a CMS application?

Rick - Our roots are in blogging and personal publishing, a market segment that has been very good to us, and provided us with viral word of mouth advertising, so we certainly don’t want to walk away from that.  I don’t have a problem referring to EE as a CMS (and I often do), but I tend to think of it more as a web publishing platform than a pure content management system.

Mac360 - Which Mac browser do you use to develop EE? Why?

Rick - I tend to use Safari, with FireFox being my backup browser. Both are fine browsers, but I like the look of Safari a bit more.

Mac360 - What security issues have you run into with Mac OS X? How about EE?

Rick - None with either. I keep up with security patches on OS X so I’ve never encountered a problem. We’re pleased that there has not been a single security problem with EE.  We’re diligent about monitoring security bulletins in competing applications, as well as constantly reviewing our own code for problems. 

Every new release of EE has security enhancements in order to stay ahead of the game.

Mac360 - Why are web standards and open source important to web site development (XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, Linux et al.)?

Rick - The promise of the web is that anyone, regardless of computer platform, can access information.  This promise can only be fulfilled when web standards are adhered to.  The biggest delinquent in this regard is Microsoft.  Their browsers have the poorest standards-compliance of any, and they’ve gotten far behind the newer browsers in terms of general features. 

There is no good reason to use Microsoft web browsers.

Mac360 - What are your favorite Mac and development web sites? Which do you visit regularly (what’s on your bookmark list)?

Rick - I enjoy John Gruber’s site, Daring Fireball. For general Mac news I usually visit Mac Central.

Mac360 - For a Mac user who wants to visit development sites, particularly in search of open source tools and applications, which sites would you recommend?

Rick - If you’re looking to download scripts, Hot Scripts is the site to go to:  http://www.hotscripts.com  For general development, the forums at DevShed are pretty good:  http://www.devshed.com

Mac360 - pMachine Hosting uses RedHat Linux running on Intel hardware, right? Any chance of getting some Mac Xserves in there? How would they compare?

Rick - IBM hardware, to be more precise. The last time Nevin and I discussed Xserves (which was over a year ago) our conclusion was that pound-for-pound, they were more expensive and less capable than the systems we were running. 

The IBM hardware we run has redundant power supplies, faster processors, and is less expensive. Hosting is a challenging business to be in due to the low margins, so as much as we love Apple, until they provide a clear advantage it will be difficult to switch to them. 

We do, however, use a number of Macs - including some Mac Mini’s - in non-critical capacities in our hosting clusters. And Nevin administrates all our hardware remotely using Timbuktu and his Powerbook.

Mac360 - What’s wrong with Windows?

Rick - Nothing if like running a bug-ridden, insecure operating system with a user interface that looks like it was built by committee.

Mac360 - You’re gonna let me use that quote, right?

Rick - Sure.

Our thanks to Rick Ellis and the entire pMachine team for developing a great application, Expression Engine, and sharing their Mac development experience with Mac360 readers. pMachine’s support staff is one of the best we’ve ever encountered among quality, affordable application developers, with excellent response, knowledgable personnel, and a real desire among the whole team to develop a first class product, and care for customers in a profoundly professional and personal manner.

Keep up the great work.