> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.chrismessina.me/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # It's been one hulluva week - URL: https://www.chrismessina.me/blog/its-been-one-hulluva-week/ - Published: 2005-05-07T00:09:54.000Z - Updated: 2026-03-25T03:32:08.000Z - Author: Chris Messina - Tags: CivicSpace, Drupal, Mozilla, Open source, Personal, Technology, Web building, WordPress ![One of those weeks](http://www.factorycity.net/blog/wp-images/one_of_those_weeks.png) What can I say other than it's just been one of those weeks? I can't even characterize it so much as *sense* the depth of the changes happening in and around me. Nor can I chalk it up to any singular *thing*, there's just a lot goin' on! So first off, lemme give props to [Matty Mullenweg](http://photomatt.net/?ref=chrismessina.me), for [topping 200K downloads](http://photomatt.net/2005/05/05/now-200000/?ref=chrismessina.me) of [WordPress](http://wordpress.org/?ref=chrismessina.me), the software the powers this very blog. 200K. That's just friggin' sweet. Moments before and in no way diminishing Matty's accomplishment, [Firefox hit the big 50 mil](http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=node/view/14616&ref=chrismessina.me). Even if the quality of design at Spread Firefox seems to [tanking](http://www.spreadfirefox.com/fifty.html?ref=chrismessina.me) since I left, I'm really proud to have been part of the effort to get the word out about the Fox. And having a hand in the launch of the rather [successful](http://staff.osuosl.org/~kveton/2005/05/03/details-on-the-mozilla-counter/?ref=chrismessina.me) [syndicated download counter thing](http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=node/view/13823&ref=chrismessina.me) feels pretty tasty too (to use an [*Ericism*](http://erichaller.com/?ref=chrismessina.me).) Oh, and it seems SFX just hit the [99,000 member](http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=user/view/99000&ref=chrismessina.me) mark. Day-mn... Ok, so other schtuff. Well, I'm deep into rewriting [my](http://drupal.org/project/lincolns%5Frevenge?ref=chrismessina.me) [CivicSpace](http://drupal.org/project/democratica?ref=chrismessina.me) [themes](http://drupal.org/project/spreadfirefox?ref=chrismessina.me) from the ground up, gutting all my previous code and aiming at a consistent codebase. I still don't know how big a project this is and I'm having some trouble keeping focus on it. The good news is, this overhaul will have very positive results, both for CivicSpace, Drupal and, I hope, themers in general. We shall see. In other news, my [nascent work on SpreadOpenOffice](http://staff.osuosl.org/~kveton/2005/04/27/enabling-your-community/?ref=chrismessina.me) seems to have suffered a bit of a blow, with one of the originators of the project being [blown off](http://marketing.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgNo=20273&ref=chrismessina.me) by the OOo proper folks. I mean, it never makes me happy to see people fight, and it makes me even less so when having seemingly silly disputes over apparent falsehoods. I mean, Charles Schulz's line "It is a very smart attempt to fork the community." just seems preposterous. In an all the discussions about this effort I've been privy to, it's never seemed like an effort to fork anything... The way I see it, if the OOo community doesn't develop a way to harness the efforts of its grassroots supporters, there'll eventually be more forks than a UN dinner party anyway... So while I have a few other related projects going on, none warrant much discussion... except the nascent [SpreadCC](http://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/SpreadCC?ref=chrismessina.me) discussion and [SpreadButter](http://spreadbutter.com/?ref=chrismessina.me)... ...which is, mind you, yet another CivicSpace site. Speaking of... this week was probably one of the most tumultuous for us so far. But I'm not too worried; from adversity and conflict usually springs innovation and clarity, which is precisely what we're in need of. I'm willing to give it some time and see what happens, but between balancing [theming](http://civicspacelabs.org/home/project/issues?projects=114&components=Themes&states=1&ref=chrismessina.me), [module improvement](http://flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/sets/294578/?ref=chrismessina.me), [Drupal development](http://flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/12517114/?ref=chrismessina.me), [relationship building](http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/cyfranogi/message/1234?ref=chrismessina.me), [promotional efforts](http://civicspacelabs.org/home/blog/chris/spreading-civicspace?ref=chrismessina.me), and business model planning, it's been a helluva week. Oh, and in the meantime, the [Web 2.0](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web%5F2.0?ref=chrismessina.me) arrived. [Backpack](http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/backpack%5F10000%5Faccounts%5Fsince%5Fwe%5Flaunched%5Fyesterday.php?ref=chrismessina.me), [Rojo](http://blog.rojo.com/rojoblog/2005/04/rojo%5Flaunches.html?ref=chrismessina.me), and hmm... something else... all launched... Firefox got [SVG](http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=6539&ref=chrismessina.me), [Tiger finally dropped](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/apr/28tiger.html?ref=chrismessina.me) and... oh yeah, I moved (which has nothing to do with anything). I forget what I was going to write next. But oh yeah, it's *really* been one helluva week. --- ### 💬 Comments from the original post **[eric](http://www.erichaller.com/?ref=chrismessina.me)** · 2005-05-07 09:11:34 that IS a pretty tasty feed!