I mean, I don't want to sound selfish or anything, but while Joomla has been growing and evolving from the original version that we loved (and hated) there has been an equal amount of growth found in the community of developers, administrators, designers and writers that have helped make it what it is today. Sure, we can look at the way that the code has changed over the last four years and then congratulate ourselves, but at the end of the day, what good has that done?
If we haven't seen the growth in ourselves, then what have we seen at all but a few thousand lines of code?
Take the template clubs (like ourselves) as an example. In the (almost) two years since we launched ourselves as a template club, we have grown into the community in an extraordinary way. People visit our site from all around the world to get a hold of the templates and extensions that were developed specifically for that content management system. Heck, if it wasn't for the Joomla community and the people that helped develop that software, we may not be here today.
The design styles of the various clubs (take a look at JoomlaBamboo and Joomlart for this one) have changed drastically as we all get better at what we do, and the standards that we stick to with our code are becoming more efficient each day. Some of us would argue that developing with Joomla has created a whole new form of art. But that's only because of the opportunity we've been given to help each other, to teach each other and even to slap each others wrists when we get out of line.
We look at the few thousand lines of code and we see something different. We see people, and places, and businesses and opportunities that were not present four years ago. We see ideas that have sprung up out of nothing, and thoughts that would create a path to the future. We see the networks and socializing and the smaller communities that were built on the hope for something greater than just another CMS. We see the friendships and relationships and partnerships that have started in the strangest ways... and all for what? More than just a few thousand lines of code.
It's when we look at those things that we can see that future ahead of us, and it's a pretty bright one. Of course, even with all of those cheesy words and cheeky phrases being thrown out there, you can't escape the strange truth that comes when you ask yourself that same question:
Where would you be?
And I suppose, that's what we ask you now. Share your story in the comments... I'm sure you've got at least one to tell.
