“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.

The inverse proposition also appears to be true: A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be made to work.

You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system.”

The above, known as Gall’s Law, makes good sense doesn’t it?

Perhaps another way:  if you can get the simple part right, you’ve done something.  And not until then.

Did you realize over sixty percent of all federal income tax returns were completed using tax preparation software last year?  Fifty million Americans prepared their own tax returns…hard to imagine that all but the most ardent purists wouldn’t prefer the benefit of inexpensive tax software to help them crunch all those numbers, double-check their work and e-file with a click of a mouse.

We recommend Tax-Compare.com if you’re looking for information about tax preparation software.  Tax-Compare is a cool free tool for anyone to use when researching tax prep software features and pricing.  ENTERMEDIA was hired to design and develop this new Drupal site in time for the 2009 tax season.  It launched last month and is getting plenty of traffic already.  Here’s what Tax-Compare is all about, in its own words:

Tax-Compare.com was created to consolidate and organize information about the top providers of tax return preparation software and web based services so that you can make an “apples to apples” comparison of the different products and select the one that best fits your needs.

Here’s how it works:

If you do not enter any information about yourself on our website, the website will show you the least expensive options offered by the various vendors.  After you enter information, the website will determine the least expensive option offered by the various vendors that has the features required to handle your needs.

Of course, the “how it works” part was our job.  Lots of moving parts on this one, and a real communication challenge to ensure all the details agreed with each other. We’re very proud of how it turned out, and thankful for the opportunity.

Take note:  this is not your average comparison site. It looks great, it’s easy to use, and it’s deep with useful information.  Be sure to check it out, especially if you prepare and e-file your own tax return.

Nick Lewis was in charge of making it behave.  He shared how he was able to devise a crucial query solution in a recent blog post here.  Attawaytogo Nick…somebody get that guy a tax-credit!

Drupal is an open source content management platform that we frequently use to build professional business websites, personal blogs, community-driven sites and even ecommerce websites. Here is a great summary of features Drupal brings to the table.

Why do we love Drupal?

• Drupal is modular and extensible
• Drupal is quality-coded and standards-based
• Drupal is fully operational with Apache, PHP and either MySQL or Postgresql.
• Drupal is open source and licensed under the GPL
• Drupal is easy to use for web designers, web developers, admins and end users
• Drupal is effortlessly collaborative, scalable, and search engine friendly

We tell our clients that Drupal is hands down the best CMS platform for websites that have a lot of content or require frequent content updates. We continue to be impressed by its simplicity, elegance and power. Drupal is also very intuitive to work with after learning a few central concepts. We can teach our clients how to update their own content, change their page titles or rearrange their site navigation in no time.

Nick Lewis is ENTERMEDIA’s “Head Drupal Chef”. Nick is an acknowledged expert in the Drupal development community, a member of the Drupal Association, and we consider him a great asset to our web design and development offering here in Austin, Texas.

We’re big believers in open source code. If you’re not too familiar with what that entails, don’t worry, it’s not hard to understand and even better to use.

According to the Open Source Initiative:

Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.

Mozilla Firefox (web browser), Apache (web server), PHP (web site application language) and PNG (file format) are only a few prominent examples of the open source development model smoothing out online experience–so much better now than only ten years ago when most everyone had to count on Microsoft to play and display nice with others.

We develop using open source programming languages and software packages, in particular Zen Cart (user-friendly ecommerce shopping cart software), the aforementioned PHP (makes web pages dynamic, widely used), MySQL (fast, reliable, easy database used by Google, Yahoo, et.al.), and Drupal (consistently ranked as the very best content management platform).

It was cool to read this article on CNET over the weekend that none other than the U.S. Department of Defense agrees that open source is the hands down best way to go. Apparently the Pentagon is preparing guidelines to leverage even more open source into U.S. defense than they already have.

If there’s anyone left out there who would still tell you open source isn’t safe or advisable for your business because it’s not “protected” or not “legit” enough, what are they going to say when the CTO of a powerful agency within the USDoD declares the following?:

Open source brings to us the ability to have collaborative and agile development environments….Additionally, open source benefits the Department of Defense through…simplified licensing…and security….Security through obscurity just doesn’t work.

As CNET’s Matt Asay puts it, “if your country trusts your physical security to open source, isn’t it time to trust your business’ security to open source?”