Slash? Really? Have you ever looked at the code? It more or less fits on the back of an envelope ... it doesn't need a book. Maybe a pamphlet.
But we should investigate getting a book out on OpenACS 4 ... once we have a better idea as to what it is ...
Michael - part of my observation is based on the fact that many folks are eager to just start hacking without investing much time in acquiring in-depth knowledge of the tools at hand. Sadly many professionals are guilty of this, too. OpenACS 4 will not reward the casual hacker nearly as much as it will the person willing to make that investment.
For a *large* one-off project I think OpenACS 4 would save time over a development OpenACS 3 project. This assumes, again, appropriate examples, documentation, and more package pieces.
But for simple projects, OpenACS 3 is certainly more approachable for the newcomer.
Of course, for *really* simple projects, where the pre-supplied packages are sufficient, OpenACS 4 is really easy to use. The ability to build subsites, mount those packages you want while leaving out those you don't want, "skin" the site with a master template - you can do a lot more without doing any programming whatsover in the OpenACS 4 world than OpenACS 3 world. *if* you can live within the pre-defined package space.
Which is one reason we need more packages ...
