<PLUG> I have been using Zope for 6 months now (after wanting to use it for 12). It is one of the most impressive pieces of software I have ever come across. In terms of its content management, easy of use, functionality and speed (yes SPEED) there is nothing out there that can compete. Don't worry about service and support, hire a smart person, who knows basic Perl or Python, Apache and some HTML and set them down with all of the documentation, this list and a shopping spree at the local bookstore. The Zope movement is strong and growing everyday. Digital Creations is a huge positive factor and their success only strengthens the overall power of Zope. Open Source allows freedom of development and plentiful resources. For the cost of a developer, $1000 in hardware and a good connection you can build and support a site that will handle millions of hits a month. ZEO will allow your company to grow to its hearts desire and never let your website be the limiting factor. </PLUG>
A shopping spree at the local bookstore does little good if none of the documentation for Zope is available at the local bookstore.... While I agree with you that Zope is a very impressive product, I'd be an awful lot more impressed if it came with documentation that was actually useful. I really don't fancy the prospect of reverse-engineering code to figure out how to use something -- and that's about the only way to figure out how to use Zope at this time.