whitehouse.gov switched to cms ...
 

... drupal

WASHINGTON — A programming overhaul of the White House's Web site has set the tech world abuzz. For low-techies* it's a snooze — you won't notice a thing.

The online-savvy administration on Saturday switched to open-source code for http://www.whitehouse.gov — meaning the programming language is written in public view* available for public use and able for people to edit.

"We now have a technology platform to get more and more voices on the site*" White House new media director Macon Phillips told The Associated Press hours before the new site went live on Saturday. "This is state-of-the-art technology and the government is a participant in it."

[...]

Under the open-source model* thousands of people pick it apart simultaneously and increase security. It comes more cheaply than computer coding designed for a single client* such as the Executive Office of the President. It gives programmers around the world a chance to offer upgrades* additions or tweaks to existing programs that the White House could — or could not — include in daily updates.

Yet the system — known as Drupal — alone won't make it more secure on its own* cautioned Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

"The platform that they're moving to is just something to hang other things on*" he said. "They need to keep up-to-date with the latest security patches."

White House opens Web site programming to public (The Associated Press)