2 vs. 3 install profiles for D6? Minimum Framework, (Personal Site?), Maximal Framework

Fresh from a discussion about install profiles for the upcoming D6 release with Boris Mann, he suggested that I post this here... so, here it is.

Boris was wondering, "What kind of site should the default install profile for D6 be geared toward?"

Assumptions (correct me if I'm wrong):

1) Drupal aims to be a framework, as opposed to being a CMS for particular kinds of sites.

2) Given the current state of tools, D6 will not be shipped with the ability to pull in contrib modules based on user selections.

One might be tempted to ship D6 with approximately 7 'core-only' install profiles... (small biz, wiki (where users are granted edit rights on every sample node type), non-profit, etc.) This would show the new user the -flexibility- of Drupal, which is of course central to the value of any 'framework'.

The danger here is that people will install one of these 'core-only' install profiles, and then be disappointed, thinking 'wow... for a the default "Small Biz" deployment Drupal sure is lacking features'. (e-commerce, newsletters, etc.)

There are two directions one could go in to mitigate this.

a) put a "suggested contrib extensions" page in the core-only install profile that puts up a splash page with the suggested non-core modules to go with that particular profile. Only then would user expectations be set properly for a 'small biz' or 'wiki' or even 'community' or 'non-profit' or etc... site. (Do install profiles have a hook for displaying a 'what to do next' page?)

b) don't ship so many install profiles with this round until the 'core+tagged contrib installer' code is working. that is to say, hold off on using the install profiles to demonstrate the breadth of configurability of Drupal until you're comfortable with shipping install profiles that can pull in contrib modules.

Once a user has made the choice of which direction they want to take a site, there's no point holding them to core modules. Certainly, core should be lean and mean and be purposefully not shipped with any contrib modules... but Drupal could do itself a disservice by naming an install profile for a style of site (wiki, small biz, etc.), and then limit itself to core modules.

Note: I'm not arguing that D6 -should- ship with contrib. Far from it... I like the 'framework' model that Drupal uses.

I've come firmly down on the side of the following plan.

Unless D6 is ready to ship with install profiles that either...

a) put up suggested extensions to its named install profiles

or b) had code to pull in tagged (specific versions of contrib modules)

It should ship with two install profiles...

'minimal framework' with only "core required"

and

'maximal framework' with everything enabled and a few 'example settings' for each feature (pages, taxonomy, blogs, roles, permissions, a couple users...) thrown in for learning purposes. Boris thought that memory limits wouldn't be a problem. (even for the worst shared hosting sites?)

I've included the word 'framework' in both because the name kind of hints to the new user that you want them to build on -either- framework with contrib modules before they make up their mind about Drupal.

I'm certainly tempted by the idea that D6 could ship with 7ish named install profiles (small biz, wiki, etc.), but I fear that each would fall short of user expectations.

Thoughts? If you agree, you'd have to force yourself to stop asking "What kind of site should the default install profile aim for?" and instead replace that question with "What can we possibly throw out of 'minimal framework'? and "What's the best way to set settings in "maximal framework" to educate the new user about how each Drupal system can be used?"

A new user would learn a lot by installing both a minimal and a maximal system, playing with minimal first, then comparing what happens to the UI when you get maximal going.

regards
Nally

p.s. In a reply, Boris suggested a third install profile that could ship with D6. "Personal Site". I like this, but my argument is basically that you should do this -only- if the core-only install profile configuration that results is actually good at being what it says it is.

Boris also suggested that the maximal install could be called 'Community'. I fear that such a name might set expectations too high, when such a name might be best reserved for some install profile that would include contrib modules. I'm not expert enough to know whether core modules are sufficient by themselves to make a great "Community" site, whatever that means. :-)