One of the poster's "cons" was lack of support for multiple databases.

Django 1.2 will have support for multiple databases: http://djangoadvent.com/1.2/multiple-database-support/

I'm excited for that but what I really meant was split/sharded databases, something you need at scale (which Fluther doesn't need...yet). Correct me if I'm wrong but the upcoming multiple database support can't do that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shard_(database_architecture)

What it seems to support is "Database Routers" which let you implement your own sharding. It's not that you can't do it. It's just that it doesn't support sharding out of the box.

I'm more excited for the template performance improvements.

I don't think it's possible for a framework like Django to support sharding out of the box - there are just too many different ways you might want to implement it. Digg shard by date for example, whereas a site like Flickr shards by user. It completely depends on your application. The database router stuff feels to me like the furthest a framework can go - though maybe a bunch of common routing patterns will emerge in the future.

I can't find a reference to it, but I recall one of the developers mentioning that the current multi-db support lays the ground work necessary for sharding.

I would bet that once 1.2 is released at least several reusable apps pop up that implement various sharding/partitioning strategies.

That's the sense I get—that they are laying the framework for more advanced database functionality like sharding.

Also, South was considered for 1.2 but deemed not yet ready: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/Version1.2Features#Highly...

From personal experience, South is not ready.

I end up spending 10x the effort using it than writing a few custom queries to add columns or drop a table.

How well would you say you know South?

I felt that way at first but once I got to know South I found it to be much better than custom queries.

About as well as needed for an average user. The problem with it is I don't work within its workflow - and it doesn't nicely deal with mine.

So my comment was deleted from the blog but comments in the vein of "Cool story, bro!" are kept? Definitely not a community I want to participate in again.

I'm sorry about that. We get a lot of spam comments so I was constantly checking the Wordpress page to approve comments. For some reason a HUGE chunk of them didn't show up until just now. I approved all comments that weren't spam. The ones that were there when your comment wasn't there were people who had commented before and were auto-approved. Again, I'm sorry you felt that way, it was not the intention.

Sorry for the misunderstanding

A little off-topic, but I love the design and typography on the Fluther blog!

Our designer (http://www.davidcole.me/) is awesome. We'll let him know you love it!

Split database support is in Django 1.2 (currently in beta), so that's one con to scratch off the list.